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ought

should; duty or obligation: You ought to go to the memorial service.

Not to be confused with:

aught – anything whatever; any part: for aught I know; a cipher; zero

naught – nothing; be without result: come to naught; lost; ruined

ought¹

(ôt)

aux.v.

1. Used to indicate obligation or duty: You ought to work harder than that.

2. Used to indicate advisability or prudence: You ought to wear a raincoat.

3. Used to indicate desirability: You ought to have been there; it was great fun.

4. Used to indicate probability or likelihood: She ought to finish by next week.

[Middle English oughten, to be obliged to, from oughte, owned, from Old English āhte, past tense of āgan, to possess; see aik- in Indo-European roots.]

Usage Note: Unlike other auxiliary verbs, ought usually takes to with its accompanying verb: We ought to go. Sometimes the accompanying verb is dropped if the meaning is clear: Should we begin soon? Yes, we ought to. In questions and negative sentences, especially those with contractions, to is also sometimes omitted: Oughtn't we be going soon? This omission of to, however, is not common in written English. Like must and auxiliary need, ought to does not change to show past tense: He said we ought to get moving along. · Usages such as He hadn't ought to come and She shouldn't ought to say that are common in many varieties of American English. They should be avoided in written English, however, in favor of the standard ought not to.

ought²

(ôt)

pron. & adv. Chiefly British

ought³

(ôt)

ought⁴

(ôt)

v. Obsolete

A past participle of owe.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ought

(ɔːt)

vb (foll by to; takes an infinitive or implied infinitive)

1. to indicate duty or obligation: you ought to pay your dues.

2. to express prudent expediency: you ought to be more careful with your money.

3. (usually with reference to future time) to express probability or expectation: you ought to finish this work by Friday.

4. to express a desire or wish on the part of the speaker: you ought to come next week.

[Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe; related to Gothic aihta]

Usage: In correct English, ought is not used with did or had. I ought not to do it, not I didn't ought to do it; I ought not to have done it, not I hadn't ought to have done it

ought

(ɔːt)

pron, adv

a variant spelling of aught¹

ought

(ɔːt)

a less common word for nought¹

[C19: mistaken division of a nought as an ought; see nought]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ought¹

(ɔt)
auxiliary verb.

1. (used to express duty or moral obligation): Every citizen ought to help.

2. (used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like): He ought to be punished.

3. (used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.): We ought to bring her some flowers.

4. (used to express probability or natural consequence): That ought to be our train now.

5. duty or obligation.

[before 900; Middle English ought, aught, Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe]

ought²

(ɔt)

n., adv.

ought³

(ɔt)

Translations

كانَ يَجِب أن، ينْبَغي أن يكون قَديَنْبَغِي أَنيَنْبَغي، يَجِب

měl by

burdeburde have

pitäisi

trebati

ætti

･･･するべきだ

~해야 한다

reikėtųturėčiauturėtų

mal by

borde

ควรจะ

nên

ought

¹ [ɔːt] MODAL AUX VB

1. (moral obligation) → deber
I ought to do it → debería hacerlo, debiera hacerlo
one ought not to do it → no se debiera hacer
I ought to have done it → debiera haberlo hecho
you ought to have warned me → me deberías haber avisado
he ought to have known → debía saberlo
I thought I ought to tell you → me creí en el deber de decírselo
to behave as one ought → comportarse como se debe

2. (vague desirability) you ought to go and see it → vale la pena ir a verlo
you ought to have seen him! → ¡tenías que haberle visto!

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

ought

[ˈɔːt] [ought] (pt) modal vb

(obligation) I ought to do it → je devrais le faire, il faudrait que je le fasse.
I ought to phone my parents → Je devrais appeler mes parents.
sb/sth ought to have ...
I ought to have phoned my parents → J'aurais dû appeler mes parents.
This ought to have been corrected → Cela aurait dû être corrigé.

(prohibition)
You ought not to do that → Tu ne devrais pas faire ça.

(prediction)
He ought to win → Il devrait gagner.
He ought to be there now → Il devrait être déjà là.
he ought to have arrived by now (oddly he hasn't) → il devrait déjà être arrivé
this ought to ... (is likely to be)
This ought to be interesting → Cela devrait être intéressant.

(advice)
You ought to go and see it → Vous devriez aller le voir.
You ought to see a doctor → Vous devriez aller voir un médecin.

ought

vb aux

(indicating moral obligation) I ought to do it → ich sollte or müsste es tun; he ought to have come → er hätte kommen sollen or müssen; this ought to have been done → das hätte man tun sollen or müssen; ought I to go too? — yes, you ought (to)/no, you oughtn’t (to) → sollte or müsste ich auch (hin)gehen? — ja doch/nein, das sollen Sie nicht; he thought he ought to tell you/you ought to know → er meinte, er sollte Ihnen das sagen/Sie sollten das wissen; people have come who ought not to have done → es sind Leute gekommen, die nicht hätten kommen sollen; oughtn’t you to have left by now? → hätten Sie nicht schon gehen müssen?; cars are parked where they ought not to be → Autos sind an Stellen geparkt, wo sie nicht hingehören; he behaved just as he ought (to have) (= was well-behaved) → er hat sich völlig korrekt benommen; (= did the right thing) → er hat sich völlig richtig verhalten

(indicating what is right, advisable, desirable) you ought to see that film → den Film sollten Sie sehen; you ought to have seen his face → sein Gesicht hätten Sie sehen müssen; she ought to have been a teacher → sie hätte Lehrerin werden sollen

(indicating probability) he ought to win the race → er müsste (eigentlich) das Rennen gewinnen; come at six, that ought to be early enough → komm (mal) um sechs, das sollte or müsste früh genug sein; that ought to do → das dürfte wohl or müsste reichen; he ought to be here soon → er müsste bald hier sein; he ought to have left by now → er müsste inzwischen gegangen sein; … and I ought to know! → … und ich muss es doch wissen!

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

ought

² [ɔːt] (ought (pt)) modal aux vb

a. (moral obligation) I ought to do it → dovrei farlo
one ought not to do it → non lo si dovrebbe fare
this ought to have been corrected → questo avrebbe dovuto essere corretto

b. (vague desirability) you ought to go and see it → dovresti andare a vederlo, faresti bene ad andarlo a vedere

c. (probability) that ought to be enough → quello dovrebbe bastare
he ought to have arrived by now → dovrebbe essere arrivato, ormai
he ought to win → dovrebbe vincere

ought

(oːt) – negative short form oughtn't (ˈoːtnt) – verb

(usually with to).

1. used to indicate duty; should. You ought to help them; He oughtn't to have done that.

2. used to indicate something that one could reasonably expect; should. He ought to have been able to do it.

ought

→ يَنْبَغِي أَن měl by burde müssen πρέπει deber, tener pitäisi il faut trebati dovere ･･･するべきだ ~해야 한다 moeten burde mieć powinność dever следует borde ควรจะ zorunda olmak nên 应该做

ought

v. deber, deber de + inf.; ser necesario, tener la obligación de + inf;

you ___ to take the medication → debe, debes tomar la medicina.

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