Polyglot Dictionary

ought

/ɔːt/

modal verb B1
V Register Formal Era Current Frequency Rare Domain General Tone Neutral

Forms

negative
ought not / oughtn't

Meaning

  1. debería (consejo formal, ought to)

    Means almost the same as "should", but sounds more formal and is always followed by "to" + the base verb.

    • You ought to apologize.

      Deberías disculparte.

Práctica

1 ¿Qué significa ought?

2 Completa el espacio en blanco: You ___ to apologize.

3 ¿Qué gráfico de características corresponde a ought?

Usage notes

"Ought" is the only English modal verb that takes "to" before the main verb ("ought to go", never "ought go"). In everyday speech, "should" is far more common.

verbmodal-verbirregularcore-vocabularygrammar

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