[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/ought/)

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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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/O/ought/#m1)

### 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 →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/O/ought/#x1)
- "What ought we to do?" said Effie. (The Book of Dragons) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/O/ought/#x2)
- He ought to be a happy man. (Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/O/ought/#x3)

### Note

Today: should; must.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «ought» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/O/ought/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«ought» in the Early Modern English dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/emode/w/ought.html) on Mova free.