"Ought to" and "Should"

Language article reprinted with permission of
www.english-to-french-translation.com

By J. Mc Corcquodale
Legal Translator

Ought to is a very useful verb which unfortunately is very often forgotten. Here, we will look at whether there are any differences between ought to and should, and whether they be used interchangeably.

1. Expressing expectation

Ought to, should and also expect to can be used interchangeably to express expectation: the person speaking or writing thinks or supposes that this will be the case.

For example:

I'm in a meeting at the moment. We should / ought to / expect to finish by 3 p.m. and I'll call you back then.

After a disappointing year, figures for the first half of 2004 have been encouraging and we should / ought to / expect to achieve our target profit figures by the end of the year.

2. Expressing probability

Ought to and should can be used to express probability.

For example:

You should / ought to receive the goods on Tuesday.

The Chairman should / ought to have arrived at our Toronto office by now.

The suggestion here is :

You probably will receive the goods on Tuesday.

He probably is in the Toronto office, but I'm not certain.

Again, the two verbs are more or less interchangeable, although ought to is slightly stronger.

3. Expressing desirability

Another use of both ought to and should is to express desirability:

You should / ought to have stayed for the last day of the conference, it was very interesting.

4. Expressing an obligation or duty, giving advice

Lastly, ought to and should can also be used to express a duty, or to give advice.

For example:

You should / ought to look at our prices, they are very competitive (I'm suggesting, giving you some advice).

You should / ought to study the figures before the meeting (you are strongly advised to ?).

You should / ought to rewrite your presentation (indicating an obligation).

Obviously, must could also be used in this context, to express an even greater degree of obligation:

You must study the figures before the meeting.

You must rewrite your presentation (you have no choice in the matter).

Nowadays, should is used much more frequently than ought to. This is a shame, particularly as many grammarians consider that there is a difference between the two: Webster's, for example, states that "both words imply obligation, but ought is the stronger. Should may imply merely an obligation of propriety [proper or correct conduct]; ought denotes an obligation of duty."

5. Negative / interrogative form

The negative and interrogative forms of "ought to" are used only very rarely:

Such things ought not happen.

You ought not to have said that.

What things ought you to know?

It would be much more usual to say such things should not happenor you shouldn't have said that.

Finally, an interesting example of usage of the verb ought in the negative form hit the headlines in September 2001: when the FBI was asked to comment on a leaked secret memo its spokesperson said " There are lots of things the intelligence community knows and other people ought not to know."

servido por eoic05 sin comentarios compártelo

Luck: definition and idioms

luck
1 luck
Luck or good luck is success or good things that happen to you, that do not come from your own abilities or efforts.
I knew I needed a bit of luck to win.
The Sri Lankans have been having no luck with the weather.
The goal, when it came, owed more to good luck than good planning.
N-UNCOUNT

2 luck
Bad luck is lack of success or bad things that happen to you, that have not been caused by yourself or other people.
I had a lot of bad luck during the first half of this season.
Randall's illness was only bad luck.
N-UNCOUNT

3 luck
If you ask someone the question `Any luck?' or `No luck?', you want to know if they have been successful in something they were trying to do. (INFORMAL)
`Any luck?'n`No.'
CONVENTION

4 luck
You can say `Bad luck', `Hard luck', or `Tough luck' to someone when you want to express sympathy to them. (INFORMAL)
Well, hard luck, mate.
CONVENTION formulae

5 luck
If you say that something brings bad luck or brings someone good luck, you believe that it has an influence on whether good or bad things happen to them.
Jean was extremely superstitious and believed the colour green brought bad luck.
PHR: V inflects

6 luck
If you describe someone as down on their luck, you mean that they have had bad experiences, often because they do not have enough money.
PHR: usu v-link PHR

7 luck
If you say that something is the luck of the draw, you mean that it is the result of chance and you cannot do anything about it.
The luck of the draw meant the young lad had to face one of America's best players.
PHR

8 luck
If you say `Good luck' or `Best of luck' to someone, you are telling them that you hope they will be successful in something they are trying to do. (INFORMAL)
He kissed her on the cheek. `Best of luck!'
CONVENTION formulae

9 luck
You can say someone is in luck when they are in a situation where they can have what they want or need.
You're in luck. The doctor's still in.
PHR: V inflects

10 luck
If you say it is just your luck that something unpleasant has happened to you, you mean that this is quite normal because unpleasant things are always happening to you. (INFORMAL)
It would be just his luck to miss the last boat.
PHR: V inflects

11 luck
If you say that someone is out of luck, you mean that they cannot have something which they can normally have.
`What do you want, Roy? If it's money, you're out of luck.'
PHR: V inflects

12 luck
You can say `No such luck' when you want to express your disappointment over something. (INFORMAL)
He must have been hoping for a relaxed time. No such luck.
CONVENTION

13 luck
If you say that someone is pushing their luck, you think they are taking a bigger risk than is sensible, and may get into trouble.
I didn't dare push my luck too far and did not ask them to sign statements.
PHR: V inflects

14 luck
If you say that luck was on someone's side, you mean that they succeeded in something by chance as well as by their own efforts or ability.
Rick seems to have had luck on his side during his 12-year acting career.
PHR: V inflects

15 luck
If someone tries their luck at something, they try to succeed at it, often when it is very difficult or there is little chance of success.
She was going to try her luck at the Las Vegas casinos.
PHR: V inflects

16 luck
You can add with luck or with any luck to a statement to indicate that you hope that a particular thing will happen. (INFORMAL)
We'll have a long talk and a good cry and then with any luck we'll both feel better.
PHR: PHR with cl feelings

pot luck: see pot.
(c) HarperCollins Publishers.

Audio Key for the luck quiz (class photocopies)

luck_key.mp3

servido por eoic05 1 comentario compártelo

American vs. British English

Differences Between American and British English

While there are certainly many more varieties of English, American and British English are the two varieties that are taught in most ESL/EFL programs. Generally, it is agreed that no one version is "correct" however, there are certainly preferences in use. The most important rule of thumb is to try to be consistent in your usage. If you decide that you want to use American English spellings then be consistent in your spelling (i.e. The color of the orange is also its flavour – color is American spelling and flavour is British), this is of course not always easy – or possible. The following guide is meant to point out the principal differences between these two varieties of English.

Use of the Present Perfect

In British English the present perfect is used to express an action that has occurred in the recent past that has an effect on the present moment. For example:

I've lost my key. Can you help me look for it?
In American English the following is also possible:
I lost my key. Can you help me look for it?

In British English the above would be considered incorrect. However, both forms are generally accepted in standard American English. Other differences involving the use of the present perfect in British English and simple past in American English include already, just and yet.

British English:

I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film
Have you finished your homework yet?

American English:

I just had lunch OR I've just had lunch
I've already seen that film OR I already saw that film.
Have your finished your homework yet? OR Did you finish your homework yet?

Possession

There are two forms to express possession in English. Have or Have got

Do you have a car?
Have you got a car?
He hasn't got any friends.
He doesn't have any friends.
She has a beautiful new home.
She's got a beautiful new home.

While both forms are correct (and accepted in both British and American English), have got (have you got, he hasn't got, etc.) is generally the preferred form in British English while most speakers of American English employ the have (do you have, he doesn't have etc.)

The Verb Get

The past participle of the verb get is gotten in American English. Example He's gotten much better at playing tennis. British English – He's got much better at playing tennis.

Vocabulary

Probably the major differences between British and American English lies in the choice of vocabulary. Some words mean different things in the two varieties for example:

Mean: (American English – angry, bad humored, British English – not generous, tight fisted)

Rubber: (American English – condom, British English – tool used to erase pencil markings)

There are many more examples (too many for me to list here). If there is a difference in usage, your dictionary will note the different meanings in its definition of the term. Many vocabulary items are also used in one form and not in the other. One of the best examples of this is the terminology used for automobiles.

American English – hood British English – bonnet
American English – trunk British English – boot
American English – truck British English – lorry

Once again, your dictionary should list whether the term is used in British English or American English.

Prepositions

There are also a few differences in preposition use including the following:

American English – on the weekend British English – at the weekend
American English – on a team British English – in a team
American English – please write me soon British English – please write to me soon

Past Simple/Past Participles

The following verbs have two acceptable forms of the past simple/past participle in both American and British English, however, the irregular form is generally more common in British English (the first form of the two) and the regular form is more common to American English.

Burn Burnt OR burned
Dream dreamt OR dreamed
Lean leant OR leaned
Learn learnt OR learned
Smell smelt OR smelled
Spell spelt OR spelled
Spill spilt OR spilled
Spoil spoilt OR spoiled

Spelling

Here are some general differences between British and American spellings:

Words ending in –or (American) –our (British) color, colour, humor, humour, flavor, flavour etc.
Words ending in –ize (American) –ise (British) recognize, recognise, patronize, patronise etc.

The best way to make sure that you are being consistent in your spelling is to use the spell check on your word processor (if you are using the computer of course) and choose which variety of English you would like. As you can see, there are really very few differences between standard British English and standard American English. However, the largest difference is probably that of the choice of vocabulary and pronunciation.

Links:

British to American/American to British translator

http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm

American vs British English
Basic Differences and Influences of Change

http://www.uta.fi/FAST/US1/REF/usgbintr.html

United Kingdom English for the American Novice

http://www.hps.com/%7Etpg/ukdict/

servido por eoic05 1 comentario compártelo

Collocations in English

A collocation (also collocate) is a word or phrase which is frequently used with another word or phrase, in a way that sounds correct to speakers of the language. For example, heavy rain
Idioms
An expression whose meaning is different from the meaning of the individual
words. For example, to have your feet on the ground is an idiom meaning to be sensible.
Phrasal verbs
A combination of words that is used like a verb and consists of a verb and an adverb or preposition, for example give in or come up with.

Any long English text, spoken or written, will contain many examples of the three.

In speaking or writing there are lots of possible word combinations, but some are much more frequently used than others. Where words often combine together we say that they are strong collocations.

Adjective + Noun lucky escape
Verb + Noun drink beer
Noun + Verb the car broke down
Adverb + Adjective extremely expensive
Verb + Adverb think clearly

servido por eoic05 sin comentarios compártelo