| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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1. Grammar: Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement, and Case
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| § 46. ought |
| ought as auxiliary verb. Ought is an auxiliary verb that 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: We ought not be afraid of the risks involved. 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. | 1 |
| ought in regional expressions. 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. | 2 |
| More at
auxiliary and primary verbs,
have to,
must,
need, and
should. | 3 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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