Phrasal Verbs

Unit 21
Phrasal Verbs and Should and Ought To
A good idea: should and ought to
Should and ought to can be used to say that doing something is a very good idea because it
will benefit the person you are speaking about:
You should look that contract over before you sign it.
You ought to look that contract over before you sign it.
or because the person you are speaking about is expected, though not required, to do
something:
You should dress up when you go to a fancy restaurant.
You ought to dress up when you go to a fancy restaurant.
Very probable based on knowledge or previous experience: should and ought
to
Both should and ought to are used to make predictions based on an understanding that comes
from knowledge of or previous experience with people or situations. Because we already
know about these people and situations, we use should and ought to to say that we think that
something is very probable, very likely, almost certain to happen—that if everything is
normal, as expected, or as planned, a condition will very probably exist or something will
very probably happen:
The rebel territory should settle down once winter comes.
The rebel territory ought to settle down once winter comes.
The mechanic said I should count on the repairs costing around $600.
The mechanic said I ought to count on the repairs costing around $600.
Questions and negative sentences
In the examples above, either should or ought to can be used—they have the same meaning;
however, in modern English, only should is used in questions:
Should you dress up when you go to a fancy restaurant?
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Ought you to dress up when you go to a fancy restaurant?
and only should not or shouldn’t is used in negative sentences:
You should not point out your boss’s grammar mistakes.
You ought not to point out your boss’s grammar mistakes.
Should not (or shouldn’t) is used to say that something is not probable. It means that
something is very improbable, very unlikely, almost certain not to happen—that if
everything is normal, as expected, or as planned, a condition will very probably not exist or
something will very probably not happen:
Learning this program is really easy. You shouldn’t run into any problems.