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ought

   Also found in: Idioms 0.06 sec.
ought 1  (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 hte, past tense of gan, 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 more standard variant ought not to.

ought 2  (ôt)
pron. & adv.
Variant of aught1.

ought 3  (ôt)
n.
Variant of aught2.

ought 4  (ôt)
v. Obsolete
A past participle of owe.

ought
Verb
1. used to express duty or obligation: she ought to tell this to the police
2. used to express advisability: we ought to get the roof repaired before the attics get any damper
3. used to express probability or expectation: a good lawyer ought to be able to fix it for you
4. used to express a desire on the part of the speaker: you ought to have a good breakfast before you hit the road [Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe]
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.
Translations
ought [pt ought] [ɔːt] aux vb I ought to do it → debería hacerlo;
this ought to have been corrected → esto debiera de haberse corregido;
he ought to win (probability) → debiera ganar;
you ought to go and see it → vale la pena ir a verlo

ought [ought , pt ] [ɔːt] aux vb I ought to do it → je devrais le faire, il faudrait que je le fasse;
this ought to have been corrected → cela aurait dû être corrigé;
he ought to win (probability) → il devrait gagner;
you ought to go and see it → vous devriez aller le voir

ought [ɔːt] [ought , pt ] aux vb I ought to do it → ich sollte es tun;
this ought to have been corrected → das hätte korrigiert werden müssen;
he ought to win (= he probably will win) → er dürfte wohl gewinnen;
you ought to go and see it → das solltest du dir ansehen

ought [pt ought] [ɔːt] aux vb I ought to do it → dovrei farlo;
this ought to have been corrected → questo avrebbe dovuto essere corretto;
he ought to win → dovrebbe vincere;
you ought to go and see it → dovreste andare a vederlo, fareste bene ad andarlo a vedere

ought
v ought [oːt]
(usually withto)
1 used to indicate duty; should You ought to help them; He oughtn't to have done that. behoort يَنْبَغي، يَجِب длъжен съм měl bych/bys (atd.) burde Konjunktiv von sollen οφείλω, πρέπει deber peaks باید pitäisi devoir צָרִיך चाहिये, बाध्य होना morati, trebati kellene, (nem) kellett volna harus ætti dovere ~するべきである ...해야 한다 (man) reikėtų, turėčiau... (izsaka vajadzību, nepieciešamību) patut moeten burde, skulle powinno się dever a trebui должен mal by (si) morati treba da bör, borde, skall, skulle ควรจะ (yap)malı, (yap)sa iyi olur 應該 виражає повинність لازم ہونا phải
2 used to indicate something that one could reasonably expect; should He ought to have been able to do it. moes/behoort iets te gedoen het كانَ يَجِب أن، ينْبَغي أن يكون قَد би трябвало měl bych/bys (atd.) burde have; skulle have Konjunktiv von sollen θα έπρεπε, θα περίμενε κανείς deber peaks قاعدتاً باید pitäisi devoir סָבִיר ש- चाहिए trebati kellene, kellett volna seharusnya ætti dovere ~のはずである ...하는 것이 마땅하다 turėtų, reikėtų... (izsaka nožēlu, pārmetumu par kaut ko neizdarītu) sepatutnya moeten burde, skulle powinno się dever a trebui следовало (бы) mal by (si) moral bi... trebalo bi da borde น่าจะ (yap)malıydı, (yap)sa iyi olurdu 應該 виражає ймовірність اميد کرنا chắc là


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
and, consequently, at what moment ought it to be discharged in order that it may touch the moon at a particular point?
Upon this, one has to remark that men ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.
SOCRATES: Why, Crito, when a man has reached my age he ought not to be repining at the approach of death.
 
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