Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Should and Ought To
Should and Ought To
Use:
Use Should and Ought to give advice.
Examples: You should see a doctor.
You ought to find a new job.
Form:
Should
Should is a modal verb, like can and will, so it follows the same rules.
1) Do not add ‘s’ to the third person singular.
He should buy a new car. NOT He should buys a new car.
5) You can also use should in the continuous form. Use should + be + verb-ing.
Why are you watching TV? You should be working!
Ought
Ought is a semi-modal verb. It is similar to should in some ways:
There is really no difference when they are used to mean obligation or duty. They both
have other uses, though (from Wiktionary):
SHOULD:
1. (auxiliary) ought (to be or do something); Indicates that the subject of the sentence has
some obligation to execute the sentence predicate.
2. (auxiliary) will likely (become or do something) Indicates that the subject of the sentence
is likely to execute the sentence predicate.
3. (auxiliary, in a subordinate clause) If; in case of; Indicates that its subordinate clause refers
to a hypothetical condition for the event expressed by main clause.
Should you need extra blankets, you’ll find them in the closet.
OUGHT TO: