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Google has translated a sentence as:

The number of building floors should be such that the resonance frequency of the structure and the natural frequency of the site is not the same.

I am not a native speaker of English, but the verb looks somewhat weird to me. If the verb was not negative, I think the verb would be "be", as:

The number of building floors should be such that the resonance frequency of the structure and the natural frequency of the site be the same.

But, I don't have any idea now that the verb is in negative form.

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  • Why do you think it should be be in the positive case? You wouldn't say "The resonant frequency be the same".
    – stangdon
    Mar 1, 2018 at 22:54
  • Maybe I've made a mistake about the be immediately after should and could and this one. In comparison with Persian, it should not be be :D
    – Omid Reza Abbasi
    Mar 2, 2018 at 10:01
  • You know, I've learned about am, is, are as present verbs. But, the above sentence is in some sense in the imperative form. For Ex. "It should be such that sth in the present or future be (or is?) changed".
    – Omid Reza Abbasi
    Mar 2, 2018 at 10:07
  • 1
    So maybe it boils down to passive vs. active? "It's important that you be quiet during the national anthem" vs. "It's important that you are quiet during the national anthem." Also: "It's important that you be solemn during the national anthem." ; "It's important that you NOT BE disruptive during the national anthem."
    – malaprop
    Mar 3, 2018 at 22:47
  • @malaprop So, if I've understood correctly, you say the latter sentence (with be) is grammatically correct, but is in passive form, right?
    – Omid Reza Abbasi
    Mar 4, 2018 at 15:33

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I'm not aware of any verb expression requirement after "should be such that". I think it should be "are not the same". A and B are not the same. C and C are the same.

For example: If you want to outrun the police, your speed should be such that your car's speed and the police car's speed are not the same.

How about also consider this example:

Your boss says: The number of building floors should be such that the resonance frequency of the structure and the natural frequency of the site are the same.

You say: But what about the building that we constructed next door? Over there, the resonant frequency and the natural frequency are not the same.

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