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(i) It is important that she be reinstated immediately. [subjunctive]
(ii) It is important that she should be reinstated immediately. [tensed]
(The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language)

What is the semantic difference between the two?

Lucky
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Listenever
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    Either is just dandy. Be is probably more common in US, but is gaining new life in UK. The choice is really idiolectal: I may write be and see, first, my client change it to is and then the client's lawyers change it to should be. – StoneyB on hiatus Aug 09 '13 at 14:24
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    I don't think either is stronger. – Daniel Aug 09 '13 at 16:46

1 Answers1

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Per Oxford English Dictionary "should" firstly expresses advisability (as opposed to obligation), so I would think that the second sentence is weaker.

July.Tech
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    In the U.S., many people (like me) never use the "should" variation. And I believe that in the U.K., where the mandative subjunctive is dying, many people never use the first version. So I would have thought that they're alternative ways of saying the same thing, and that neither is stronger. – Peter Shor Aug 17 '13 at 18:07