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ought

verb (old noun sense: anything, from "aught")

«ought» in the English dictionary: Early Modern English — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

Early Modern English

Meaning

Should, or was right to; the old noun sense (anything) is no longer used. tree →

Then and now

The sentences use the modern verb sense (should), so the old meaning "anything" is not shown here.

Examples

Let us work as we ought.” (The Blue Fairy Book) tree →
"What ought we to do?" said Effie. (The Book of Dragons) tree →
He ought to be a happy man. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) tree →

Note

Today: should; must.

On Mova

Trees and pragmatics of «ought» in the Early Modern English dictionary: every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
«ought» in the Early Modern English dictionary on Mova free.

This page in Markdown → https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/ought/