English

Etymology

Pronunciation

• /ɔːt/

• Rhymes with: -ɔːt

Verb form

1. simple past of owe
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 182:

     witnesse Aristippus, who being urged with the affection he ought his children, as proceeding from his loynes, began to spit [...].

Verb

1. Indicating duty or obligation.

   You ought to vote in the coming election.

2. Indicating advisability or prudence.

   You ought to stand back from the edge of the platform.

3. Indicating desirability.

   You ought to have seen the film; it was very good.

4. Indicating likelihood or probability.

   You ought to arrive by noon if you take the motorway.

Usage notes

• Ought is an auxiliary verb; it takes a following verb as its complement. This verb may be appear either as a full infinitive (such as "to go") or a bare infinitive (such as simple "go"), depending on region and speaker; the same range of meanings is possible in either case. Additionally, it's possible for ought not to take any complement, in which case a verb complement is implied, as in, "You really ought to [do so]."
• The negative of ought is either ought not (to) or oughtn't (to)

Synonyms

• should (In all senses)

See also

• ought to

Translations