Advice, social and moral responsibility, obligation, criticism

· You ought to see a doctor.

· You ought not to smoke so much.

· She ought to look after her children better.

· You ought to ask for your money back.

 

2. probability (strong supposition) The use of ought to in this case is not very common as this meaning is normally rendered by must.

· They ought to be in office by now (90% certain; they will probably be in office) = They must be in office now.

Should and ought to are basically the same, although should is much more widely used than ought to. The negative and interrogative forms of ought to are becoming increasingly rare. Both should and ought to are used to talk about obligation and duty and to give advice. One way of getting the meaning of should is to contrast its meaning with that of must and have to as the degree of obligation is considerably less, e.g. ‘I have to go to the doctor’ as compared to ‘I should go to the doctor’.

Unlike must and have to, which express obligation where you have no choice, should and ought to describe a sort of obligation where you have a choice:

· You shouldn't carry a lot of money with you.

· You oughtn't to leave your bag unattended.

· You should help old people.

· You ought to take up a sport.

In the above illustrations, we are free to do or not to do what we are advised. Still there is some very slight difference between them. Should suggests an obligation more moral and binding than ought to and there­fore offers stronger advice and conveys greater certainty in prediction.

Ought to often suggests that the action is unlikely to be fulfilled.

Compare:

· You should go. (this is absolutely necessary)

· You ought to go. (but I know you don't want to)

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Ought (to) имеет только одну форму. За ним следует инфинитив смыслового глагола с частицей to. Очень близок по значению глаголу should.

Выражает:

а) необходимость совершения действия в силу чьего-либо мнения, отражающего общепринятые суждения, моральные принципы, обязательства и т.п. - должен, следует, (мягче, чем must);

б) предположение, с оттенком уверенности - должно быть, наверное, вероятно.