Should vs Ought to vs Had better vs Supposed to

OUGHT TO is a semi-modal verb because it is in some ways like a modal verb and in some ways like a main verb. For example, unlike modal verbs, it is followed by TO, but like modal verbs, it does not change form for person.

OUGHT TO是半情态动词，既像情态动词，没有人称和数的变化，又像主动词，后面加TO再加动词原形。

● SHOULD and OUGHT TO are usually interchangeable with little difference in meaning when we talk about OBLIGATION, PROBABILITY, or GIVING ADVICE, but OUGHT TO is more formal, and less common in modern spoken English.

● 在谈论义务、推测或给予建议时，SHOULD和OUGHT TO可以互换使用，意思基本相同，但OUGHT TO更正式，在现代英语口语中也不太常见。

● Negative Forms of SHOULD and OUGHT TO否定形式:

should: should not/shouldn’t

ought to: ought not to/oughtn’t to

● giving advice or making a recommendation给出建议或提议:

★ You should/ought to go to the dentist if your tooth still hurts.

★ 如果你还牙疼，你应该去看牙医。

★ You’ll catch cold if you go out like that. You should/ought to take a hat.

★ 你这样出去会着凉的，你应该戴一顶帽子。

★ Some plants should not/ought not to be grown in direct sunlight. It will damage their leaves.

★ 有些植物应该避免阳光直射，直射的阳光会损害它们的叶子。

★ We should not/ought not to have ordered so much food.

★ 我们不应该点这么多食物。

★ You shouldn’t /oughtn’t speak to your father like that.

★ 你不应该那样跟你父亲说话。

★ You shouldn’t /oughtn’t to have said that about his mother.

★ 你不应该那样说他的母亲。

● But we prefer SHOULD when an outside authority recommends us to do something:

● 当外部权威机构建议我们做某事时，我们倾向于使用SHOULD。

★ The manual says that the computer should be disconnected from the mains before the cover is removed.

★ 手册上说，在取下盖子之前，应将计算机与电源断开。

★ The instructions clearly say that we should connect the blue wire and the yellow wire.

★ 说明书上明确指出，我们应该连接蓝线和黄线。

★ The medicine should be kept in a cool place.

★ 该药品应置于阴凉处保存。

★ According to the label, the jam should be refrigerated after opening.

★ 根据标签，果酱开封后应冷藏。

● When we give advice with I, we use SHOULD or WOULD, not OUGHT TO:

● 当以I的角度来给出建议时，用SHOULD或WOULD，而非OUGHT TO。

★ I should/would leave early tomorrow if I were you.

★ 如果我是你，我明天会早点出发。

★ If you’re feeling ill, I should stay at home if I were you.

★ 如果你感觉不舒服，如果我是你，我会呆在家里。

● Talking about a responsibility or duty责任或义务:

★ People should/ought to be warned of the danger of swimming off this beach.

★ 应该警告大家远离这个海滩游泳的危险。

★ I should/ought to visit my parents very often.

★ 我应该经常去看望我的父母。

● To express that a situation is likely in the present or in the future (expectation or prediction):

● 表示现在或将来有可能出现某种情况（期望或预测）。

★ Have we got any string?

我们有绳子吗？

There should/ought to be some in the kitchen drawer.

厨房的抽屉里应该有一些。

★ I enjoyed her first novel, so the new one企业网站建设方案的定位。企业在设定网站建设计划的过程中，要充分考虑企业自身的特点，并在建设前进行市场分析，了解自身行业的市场，并结合SEO优化排名的布局。追求清晰、干净、简单、大方，充分展示企业形象和产品销售，同时将吸引客户的信息或产品放在主页上，尽量在较短的时间内吸引客户的注意。 should/ought to be good.

★ 我很喜欢她的第一部小说，所以她的新小说也应该不错。

★ The concert should/ought to only take about two hours, so we’ll be home by 12 pm.

★ 音乐会应该只需要两个小时，所以我们12点前能到家。

★ There should/ought to be some good films at the cinema this weekend.

★ 本周末电影院应该会上映一些好电影。

● We use SHOULD HAVE DONE/OUGHT TO HAVE DONE to talk about an obligation in the past, but we didn’t fulfill it. We often indicate some criticism or regret.

● SHOULD HAVE DONE/OUGHT TO HAVE DONE可用来谈论过去我们未履行的一项义务，应该做而实际上未做，常常表示责备、后悔或遗憾。

★ He should/ought to have asked me before he took my bike. – I’m annoyed.

★ 以上的步骤执行成功之后，一个属于公司的平台网站就搭建完成，就可以使用域名访问自己的网站了。总的来说，成功建立一个自己的网站涉及到的细节性东西比较多，以及后续的网站运营建设，比如，一个平台的发展方向、如何选择用户群、添加好的产品、如何进行用户互动、如何让更多人知道自己的网站等方面，这时候建议大家选择更有实力更专业的公司平台进行建设运维。 他在骑走我的自行车之前，本应该问问我。- 我很恼火

★ We should/ought to have taken a taxi when it rained. – I’m sorry we didn’t.

★ 让更多人了解品牌、了解产品是企业的最终目的，网络推广就是通过网络渠道让更多人去了解、接受与信任你的过程，发掘潜在客户，通过在线渠道了解到公司的业务，就增加了转化为资产的可能，企业才能够获得更实在的收益，真正做到增加客户资源，提高生产力。4、找专业公司定制如果一个企业选择进行公司网站建设的话，要注意的是要建立自己的官方网站，不要花冤枉钱在模板建站上，如果你需要制作的是一个小网站的话倒是可以使用模板，但是如果是建设企业官网的话就最好是选择专业的网站建设公司进行定制和开发更为合适。 下雨的时候我们本应该坐出租车。- 实际上我们并未这样做。

★ I often think that I should/ought to have studied English not business administration.

★ 我常常想，我本应该学英语专业而不应该学工商管理。

● We also use SHOULD HAVE DONE/OUGHT TO HAVE DONE to talk about an expectation that something happened, has happened or will happen.

● SHOULD HAVE DONE/OUGHT TO HAVE DONE可用来谈论对过去已经发生的事情或将来要发生的事情的期望。

★ If the flight was on time, he should/ought to have arrived in Jakarta early this morning.

★ 如果航班准点，他应该今天早上到达雅加达。

★ The project should/ought to have been finished by the end of the week.

★ 该项目应该在本周末前完成。

● With SHOULD, you can make questions. With OUGHT TO, you can technically make questions, but they sound ridiculously formal.

● 疑问句中通常使用SHOULD，原则上，OUGHT TO也用用于疑问句中，但过于正式。

★ What time should I get to the airport?

What time ought I to get to the airport?

★ 我应该什么时候到机场？

★ Ought we to be more worried about the environment?

★ 我们是否应该多忧心一下环境问题？

★ What should I do if my car breaks down?

★ 如果我的车坏了，我应该怎么办？

★ Should I make some food or order out?

★ 我应该自己做饭还是叫外卖？

● SUPPORSED TO has a similar meaning to SHOULD, but while SHOULD expresses what you think is the right thing to do, SUPPORSED TO expresses what other people think is the right thing to do.

● SUPPORSED TO的意思与SHOULD相似，但SHOULD表达的是你本人认为应该做某事，而SUPPORSED TO表达的是其他人认为你应该做某事。

★ I should be at the airport at 8:00.

★ 我八点要到达机场。

It’s important for you personally to be there at 8:00.

对你个人来说，8点到达机场非常重要。

★ I am supposed to be at the airport at 8:00.

★ 我八点要到达机场。

Someone else thinks it’s important for you to be there at 8:00.

别人认为你8点到达机场非常重要。

★ You should have worn something more formal.

You were supposed to have worn something more formal.

你应该穿得更正式一些。

With SHOULD, you are criticizing me directly. You think I look too scruffy and that I made a mistake by dressing too informally. With SUPPORSED TO, you are suggesting that you don’t personally care about my appearance, but that other people might expect me to dress more formally.

用SHOULD，你是在直接批评我，认为我衣着不整洁、穿着过于随便是个错误。用SUPPORSED TO，你在暗示你个人并不关心我的穿着，但其他人可能希望我穿得更正式。

● We use SUPPOSED TO when we report what many people think is true:

● 当大多数人认为某事是正确的或真实的，可以用SUPPOSED TO，意为“认为、觉得、相信”。

★ The call of cuckoo is supposed to be the first sign of spring.

★ 布谷鸟的叫声意味着春天来了。

★ Walking under a ladder is supposed to be unlucky.

★ 在梯子下走被认为不吉利。

★ Eating sweets is supposed to be bad for your teeth.

★ 吃甜食对牙齿不好。

★ Drinking hot milk before you go to bed is supposed to help you sleep.

★ 睡觉前喝热牛奶有助睡眠。

● HAD BETTER gives more information than just using SHOULD. HAD BETTER expresses a warning or a threat or some kind of urgency. With HAD BETTER, you can even put the bad consequences into your sentence. The negative form of HAD BETTER is HAD BETTER NOT.

● 相比SHOULD来说，HAD BETTER表达了更丰富的信息。HAD BETTER传达了警告、威胁、紧迫性等信息，在HAD BETTER的句子中，你甚至可以表达由此造成的不好的结果。其否定形式是HAD BETTER NOT。

★ If you are too tired, you’d better let me drive.

★ 如果你很累，你最好让我来开车。

★ The gas tank is almost empty. We had better stop at the next gas station.

★ 快没油了，我们最好在下一个加油站停车。

★ You had better take care of that cut on your hand soon, or it will get infected.

★ 你最好尽快处理你手上的伤口，否则会感染的。

★ He’d better apologize, or I will never talk to him again.

★ 他最好道歉，否则我再也不和他说话了。

★ You’d better be on time, or you could lose your job.

★ 你最好准时到，否则你会失去 工作。

● HAD BETTER cannot be used to talk about the past or to make general comments, we use SHOULD/OUGHT TO instead:

● HAD BETTER不能用于谈论过去或做概括性评论，应该用SHOULD/OUGHT TO。

★ I don’t think parents should/ought to give their children sweets.

★ 我认为父母不应该给孩子吃甜食。

★ I think children should/ought to learn to cook at an early age.

★ 我认为孩子们应该从小学习烹饪。

★ I don’t think that children should play outside after 9PM.

★ 我认为孩子们9点以后不应该在外面玩。

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