Dec 4, 2020 · While the usage of ought to has been declining steadily in the last 300 years, it is still incredibly common. (The linked Ngram shows that it is roughly 1/3 as frequent as the word …

Verbs like ought, should, must, have to express degrees of desirability or probability, neither of which really apply to non-sentient things like branches. Maybe the branches "ought not reach" …

Nov 12, 2010 · What is the difference between You should go and You ought to go? I rarely use the latter.

Mar 4, 2016 · As a result of this, the following "rule" is valid for remembering the modern English spelling of past participles that end in -aught/-ought: the spelling -aught contains the letter "a," …

Oct 21, 2023 · It depends on whether the speaker has internalized ought as a separate item from oughtta. It's got no other use and it's rare with an uncomplemented infinitive. Phrases such as …

Mar 9, 2019 · 'Ought' is an archaic spelling of 'aught', which is another old word meaning 'anything' or 'any'. So the meaning is: None of the believers considered that any of the things …

Jul 24, 2024 · The engineer, and more generally the designer, is concerned with how things ought to be - how they ought to be in order to attain goals, and to function. I don't see any problem …

Feb 15, 2017 · Ought to is a unit. In older English texts, or modern texts whose authors are trying to sound old, one occasionally comes across ought separated from its to (?_Ought I to awaken …

5 It's usually ought not to. The Google Ngram below shows that most of the time ought not is used, it is the first two words of ought not to. Many of the remaining cases appear to be …

2 Longman Dictionary says: that should do it also that ought to do it (spoken): used to say that you will have finished doing something if you just do one more thing: I've just got to prepare …