Meaning of "ought" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD OUGHT

Old English āhte, past tense of āgan to owe; related to Gothic aihta.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF OUGHT

ought  [ɔːt]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF OUGHT

Ought is a verb.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb ought in English.

WHAT DOES OUGHT MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Ought

Ought may refer to: ▪ One of the English modal verbs ▪ One of the names for the number 0 in English ▪ A band on the Canadian Constellation Records...

Definition of ought in the English dictionary

The first definition of ought in the dictionary is to indicate duty or obligation. Other definition of ought is to express prudent expediency. Ought is also to express probability or expectation.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO OUGHT

PRESENT

Present

I ought

you ought

he/she/it oughts

we ought

you ought

they ought

Present continuous

I am oughting

you are oughting

he/she/it is oughting

we are oughting

you are oughting

they are oughting

Present perfect

I have oughted

you have oughted

he/she/it has oughted

we have oughted

you have oughted

they have oughted

Present perfect continuous

I have been oughting

you have been oughting

he/she/it has been oughting

we have been oughting

you have been oughting

they have been oughting

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I oughted

you oughted

he/she/it oughted

we oughted

you oughted

they oughted

Past continuous

I was oughting

you were oughting

he/she/it was oughting

we were oughting

you were oughting

they were oughting

Past perfect

I had oughted

you had oughted

he/she/it had oughted

we had oughted

you had oughted

they had oughted

Past perfect continuous

I had been oughting

you had been oughting

he/she/it had been oughting

we had been oughting

you had been oughting

they had been oughting

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will ought

you will ought

he/she/it will ought

we will ought

you will ought

they will ought

Future continuous

I will be oughting

you will be oughting

he/she/it will be oughting

we will be oughting

you will be oughting

they will be oughting

Future perfect

I will have oughted

you will have oughted

he/she/it will have oughted

we will have oughted

you will have oughted

they will have oughted

Future perfect continuous

I will have been oughting

you will have been oughting

he/she/it will have been oughting

we will have been oughting

you will have been oughting

they will have been oughting

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would ought

you would ought

he/she/it would ought

we would ought

you would ought

they would ought

Conditional continuous

I would be oughting

you would be oughting

he/she/it would be oughting

we would be oughting

you would be oughting

they would be oughting

Conditional perfect

I would have ought

you would have ought

he/she/it would have ought

we would have ought

you would have ought

they would have ought

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been oughting

you would have been oughting

he/she/it would have been oughting

we would have been oughting

you would have been oughting

they would have been oughting

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you ought
we let´s ought
you ought

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to ought

Past participle

oughted

Present Participle

oughting

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

TRANSLATION OF OUGHT

Find out the translation of ought to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of ought from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «ought» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 应该做
• Translator English - Spanish: tener
• English: ought
• Translator English - Hindi: चाहिए
• Translator English - Arabic: يَنْبَغِي أَن
• Translator English - Russian: следует
• Translator English - Portuguese: dever
• Translator English - Bengali: কর্তব্য
• Translator English - French: il faut
• Translator English - Malay: Sepatutnya
• Translator English - German: müssen
• Translator English - Japanese: ･･･するべきだ
• Translator English - Korean: ~해야 한다
• Translator English - Javanese: Mesthine
• Translator English - Vietnamese: nên
• Translator English - Tamil: வேண்டும்
• Translator English - Marathi: पाहिजे
• Translator English - Turkish: gerektiğini
• Translator English - Italian: dovere
• Translator English - Polish: mieć powinność
• Translator English - Ukrainian: виражає повинність
• Translator English - Romanian: a trebui
• Translator English - Greek: πρέπει
• Translator English - Afrikaans: behoort
• Translator English - Swedish: borde
• Translator English - Norwegian: burde

10 QUOTES WITH «OUGHT»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word ought.

1

John Ashcroft

An FBI agent ought to be able to surf the net and look for sites that instruct people how to make bombs.

2

Les Aspin

We ought to be providing protective sanctuaries for the Kurdish rebels. That means finding some places where they can come and to which we will then be able to provide food and water and medical help.

3

Haley Barbour

I have a record as governor. I have a record of cutting spending. And I talked yesterday not only about we ought to cut spending, I talked about how we've cut spending in Mississippi and how if you did the same things in the federal government, you would save tens of billions of dollars a year.

4

Irving Berlin

Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life.

5

Saint Bernard

Christian, learn from Christ how you ought to love Christ. Learn a love that is tender, wise, strong; love with tenderness, not passion, wisdom, not foolishness, and strength, lest you become weary and turn away from the love of the Lord.

6

Vera Brittain

I know one husband and wife who, whatever the official reasons given to the court for the break up of their marriage, were really divorced because the husband believed that nobody ought to read while he was talking and the wife that nobody ought to talk while she was reading.

7

Jerry Brown

Jobs for every American is doomed to failure because of modern automation and production. We ought to recognize it and create an income-maintenance system so every single American has the dignity and the wherewithal for shelter, basic food, and medical care. I'm talking about welfare for all. Without it, you're going to have warfare for all.

8

Jimmy Carter

There's always an element of self delusion among people who believe they ought to be President. There's an underestimation of your opponent and an overestimation of your own abilities. This is compatible with being rich and powerful, the idea that we were blessed by God because we deserve to be blessed.

9

Rosalynn Carter

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be.

10

Mary Cassatt

I think that if you shake the tree, you ought to be around when the fruit falls to pick it up.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «OUGHT»

Discover the use of ought in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to ought and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

We Ain't what We Ought to be: The Black Freedom Struggle ...

Chronicles the struggles for African American freedoms and equality from the end of the Civil War to the current day, focusing on the achievements of grassroots activists and national leaders alike.

Stephen G. N. Tuck, 2010

I ought to be in pictures: a new comedy

When Libby Tucker travels to California to visit her estranged father, whom she has always idolized, it forces them, and her father's lover, Steffy, to reevaluate their feelings

Neil Simon, 1981

What Every Christian Ought to Know

Designed to aide Christians in establishing the core truths of the Bible, understanding their practical applications for everyday life, and empowering Christians to live a dynamic Christian life.

Adrian Rogers, 2012

What a Woman Ought to Be and to Do: Black Professional Women ...

This is a story of struggle and empowerment, of the strength of a group of women who worked against daunting odds to improve the world for themselves and their people.

Stephanie J. Shaw, 2010

The British Moralists and the Internal 'Ought': 1640-1740

This book is a major work in the history of ethics, and provides the first study of early modern British philosophy in several decades.

Stephen Darwall, 1995

The Is-Ought Problem: An Investigation in Philosophical Logic

Can OUGHT be derived from IS? This book presents a systematic investigation of this time-honored philosophical problem by means of modern alethic-deontic predicate logic.

G. Schurz, 1997

You Ought To!: A Psychoanalytic Study of the Superego and ...

Starting with an account of how Freud elaborated, over many years, the idea of an agency within a person's mind which monitors and passes judgement on the person, Barnett goes on to describe the evolution of the superego from infancy to ...

Bernard Barnett, 2007

Ought Implies Kant: A Reply to the Consequentialist Critique

This volume treats the consequentialist challenge to Kantian ethics in several novel ways.

Joel Marks, 2009

What Is and What Ought to Be: The Dialectic of Experience, ...

In addition to being a useful primer on the relationship between theology and sociology (both theoretical and empirical), the book provides a wonderfully clear description of the sea-changes that have occurred in Roman Catholic theology ...

Michael G. Lawler, 2005

The Linear Algebra a Beginning Graduate Student Ought to Know

This book is intended to fill the gap which has developed by providing enough theoretical and computational material to allow the advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate student to overcome this deficiency and be able to work ...

Jonathan S. Golan, 2012

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «OUGHT»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term ought is used in the context of the following news items.

What you ought to be, can be, and will be

I often find myself reading about World War II more often than any other period in history. I also find the documentaries on the History Channel ... «Nevada Herald, Jul 15»

Obama: UK ought to stay in European Union

President Barack Obama said Thursday that the U.K. should remain a part of the European Union to ensure the continued influence of a close ... «MarketWatch, Jul 15»

Secular Forces Ought to Resist BJP's Growth, Says Pinarayi Vijayan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:CPM politburo member Pinarayi Vijayan has called for concerted efforts by secular forces to resist the growth of the ... «The New Indian Express, Jul 15»

The Way It Ought To Be: Warnings About Chickens?

It's a warning about chickens that Jeff can't believe. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is warning about a salmonella outbreak ... «kplr11.com, Jul 15»

You Ought to Have a Look: Highlights from the House Hearing on …

You Ought to Have a Look is a feature from the Center for the Study of Science posted by Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. (“Chip”) ... «Cato Institute, Jul 15»

Ought-ology? Science & Ethics

Two of the most obvious and least ignorable features of today's society are the ever-accelerating advance of science and the ever-increasing urgency of ... «Philosophy Now, Jul 15»

Our Views: People wanting measurable progress in public schools …

... themselves to have a common enemy. People wanting measurable progress in taxpayer-funded schools ought to beware of such a coalition. «The Advocate, Jul 15»

After nuclear deal, Israel ought to become Iran's best ally

This is the thesis of Uri Avnery, leader of Gush Shalom, a major supporter of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. According to the great ... «AsiaNews.it, Jul 15»

'Citizens advocate' ought to be accountable

This is written in response to Allan Feifer's news on the website for the Concerned Citizens of Franklin County at www.abetterfranklin.com. «The Times, Jul 15»

Airlines flaunt rules: Overbooking flights ought to benefit passengers …

Counter-intuitively, overbooking the seats on commercial flights is good practice for an airline and beneficial for passengers – so long as it is ... «The Independent, Jul 15»