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Vocabulary for the week elementary
Grammar elem
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Grammar elem
Should
Should
1.
expectation
You use
should
or
ought to
to say that you expect something to happen.
We
should
be there by dinner time.
It
ought to
get easier with practice.
You use
should
or
ought to
with
have
and a past participle to say that you expect something to have happened already.
You
should have
heard by now that I'm OK.
It's ten o'clock, so they
ought to have
reached the station.
You also use
should
or
ought to
with
have
and a past participle to say that something was expected to happen, but did not happen.
Bags which
should have
gone to Rome were sent to New York.
The project
ought to have
finished by now.
Be Careful! You must use
have
and a past participle in sentences like these. Don't say, for example, `
The project ought to finish by now
'.
2
moral rightness
You use
should
or
ought to
to say that something is morally right.
Crimes
should
be punished.
I
ought to
call the police.
3
giving advice
You can say
you should
or
you ought to
when you are giving someone advice.
I think
you should
go see your doctor.
I think
you ought to
try a different approach.
4
negative forms
Should
and
ought to
have the negative forms
should not
and
ought not to
.
This
should not
be allowed to continue.
They
ought not to
have said anything.
The
not
is not usually pronounced in full. When you write down what someone says, you write
shouldn't
or
oughtn't to
.
You
shouldn't
dress like that, Andrew.
They
oughtn't to
mention it.
When you make a negative statement with
ought
in American English, you can omit
to
:
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