18. Ought and Should for Obligation

A. forms:

The same form can be used for present and future and for the past when preceded by a verb in a past tense.

ought takes the full infinitive, should is followed by the bare infinitive.

Interrogative: ought I? should I?

Questions or remarks with ought may be answered by should and vice versa.

B. uses, comparing with must and have to

should and ought to are used to express obligation and duty, to give advice, and in general to say what we think it is right or good for people to do.

You ought to/should go and see ‘Terminator’ - it’s a great film.

You should have seen his face!

Here there is neither the speaker’s authority, as with must, or external authority, as with have to. It is more the matter of conscience or good sense. When you use should and ought to, you are saying that the feeling of obligation is not as strong as when you use must. You also use should/ought to when you are giving or asking for an opinion about a situation. You often use ‘I think’, or ‘Do you think’ to start the sentence.

I think that we should be paid more.

Do you think he ought not to go.

What do you think we should do?

In most cases, both should and ought to can be used with more or less the same meaning. There is, however, a very slight difference. When we use should, we give our own opinion; ought to has a rather more objective force, and is used when we are talking about laws, duties and regulations (or when we want to make our opinion sound as strong as a duty or law).

C. ought to/should with different types of infinitives

ought to/shouldwith the continuous infinitive refers the action to the present and expresses the idea that the subject is not fulfilling his obligations or he is acting foolishly, not sensibly:

We should be wearing the seat belts. (But we are not wearing them.)

I shouldn’t be telling you this. It’s supposed to be a secret.

ought to/should may be combined with the perfect infinitive. In this case the meaning of the combination depends on whether the sentence is affirmative or negative. In an affirmative sentence should/ought to + perfect infinitive indicates that a desirable action was not carried out :

He looks very ill. He should have stayed at home.

They ought to have taken a taxi.

In a negative sentence should/ought to + perfect infinitive is used to say that an undesirable action was carried out.

You shouldn’t have given him the money.

She ought not to have sold the ring.

19. Had Better + Bare Infinitive

This structure expresses a strong recommendation in a particular situation. You also use had better (‘d better) when giving advice or when giving your opinion about something. The negative is had better not. The correct form is always ‘had better’ (not ‘have better’). You do not use ‘had better’ to talk about obligation in the past, even though it looks like a past form. Had better often suggests a kind of threat or warning, and is stronger than should or ought to.

The neighbours are complaining. We’d better turn the music down.

My wife is waiting for me. I had better not be late.

20. Be + Infinitive

The be + infinitive construction is extremely important and can be used in the following ways:

A. This structure is often used to talk about arrangements and plans made for the future:

The Queen is to visit Japan next year.

She is to be married next month.

This construction is very much used in newspapers. In headlines the verb be is often omitted to save space:

The Queen to visit Japan next year.

B. be + infinitive can also be used to give orders and instructions.

No one is to leave this building without the permission of the police.

He is to stay here until we return.

This is a rather impersonal way of giving instructions and is chiefly used with the third person. When used with you it often implies that the speaker is passing on instructions given by someone else. The difference between (a) Stay here, Tom and (b) You are to stay here, Tom is that in (a) the speaker himself is ordering Tom to stay, while in (b) he may be merely conveying to Tom the wishes of another person.

C. be + infinitive is used in indirect speech reporting commands and requests for instructions:

He says, ‘Wait till I come’.

He says that we are to wait till he comes.

‘Where shall I put it, sir?’ he asked.

He asked where he was to put it.

D.The passive infinitive is common in notices and instructions:

These tablets are to be kept out of the reach of children.

The subject and auxiliary verb may be left out before the infinitive:

To be taken three times a day before meals. (written on medicine)

E. The structure can be used in the past, to talk about arrangements which were planned.

I felt nervous because I was to leave home for the first time.

I was to have started work last week, but I changed my mind.

The first example doesn’t tell us whether the plan was carried out or not. But the second example, with the perfect infinitive, shows that the expected event did not happen.

F. was/were + infinitive is used to talk about ‘destiny’ - things which were hidden in the future, ‘written in the stars’.

They said goodbye, little knowing that they were never to meet again.

It is often translated into Russian as суждено.

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