Should and Ought to?

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hoangkha

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Hi!
In the 7th grade English textbook(VN), there is two sentenses as follows
1- You should clean your room. (2 ticks)
2- You ought to clean your room. (3 ticks)
It means that 1 is stronger than 2. Is it right, please?
(According to OALD, SHOULD&OUGHT TO have the same meaning.)
 

5jj

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In your example, there is no difference in meaning. The textbook is wrong.

Note that the two words cannot always be used in the same contexts. Whenever you can use 'ought to', you can use 'should', but the reverse is not always true. I suggest to my students that they always use 'should'.
 

Tdol

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I'd give those sentences the same number of ticks too.
 

richardavie

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For me the meaning is exactly the same, but 'ought to' sounds slightly more American, I almost never say it.
 

yogeshiimi

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What I learnt back when I was in school was:

Use "Ought to" when you want to recommend something in a light manner specially to those who may not be known to you very well.

Use "Should" when you are making a statement strongly. For example;
"you ought not to smoke at public places" is recommended over "you should not smoke at public places" to a stranger; as "should" has an aura of authority/command with it and "Ought to" is more suggestive.
 

5jj

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What I learnt back when I was in school was:

Use "Ought to" when you want to recommend something in a light manner specially to those who may not be known to you very well.

Use "Should" when you are making a statement strongly. For example;
"you ought not to smoke at public places" is recommended over "you should not smoke at public places" to a stranger; as "should" has an aura of authority/command with it and "Ought to" is more suggestive.
As three native speakers have said, we feel there is no difference in meaning.
 

Tina3

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Our friend ,5jj, wrote the following:
I suggest to my students that they always use 'should'.
Is it fine? I would like to hear more about it. The verb suggest is subjunctive.

I have learnt it is not good English to say 'suggest someone to do something'.
It should be 'suggest that somebody do something'.
Even 'suggest doing something. is correct. [ I suggest studying hard to my students.]
Even 'suggest something' is correct. ·[ I suggest buying tablets to my students.]
 

5jj

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Our friend ,5jj, wrote the following:
I suggest to my students that they always use 'should'.
Is it fine? I would like to hear more about it. The verb 'suggest' is subjunctive.
No, 'use' is in the subjunctive mood; 'suggest' is the indicative form. Actually, with 'they' as the subject, you can't tell the difference. The difference appears only in the third person singular form: When a student asks me, I always suggest [that] he uses (indicative)/use (subjunctive) 'should'.

Many speakers of BrE would probably be more likely to say, "...I suggest using ...", "... I suggest (that) they should use...'" or "... I suggest the use of ...".
I have learnt it is not good English to say 'suggest someone to do something'.
That is correct. We do not say that
 

sawsan sherif

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should
1 used to show what is right, appropriate, etc, especially when criticizing sb's actions
2 used for giving or asking for advice
3 used to say that you expect sth is true or will happen
4 used to say that sth that was expected has not happened
ought to
1 used to say what is the right thing to do
2 used to say what you expect or would like to happen
3 used to say what you advise or recommend
4 used to say what has probably happened or is probably true
this is the different between should and ought to
 

5jj

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should
1 used to show what is right, appropriate, etc, especially when criticizing sb's actions
2 used for giving or asking for advice
3 used to say that you expect sth is true or will happen
4 used to say that sth that was expected has not happened
ought to
1 used to say what is the right thing to do
2 used to say what you expect or would like to happen
3 used to say what you advise or recommend
4 used to say what has probably happened or is probably true
this is the differen[STRIKE]t[/STRIKE]ce between 'should' and 'ought to'.
See post #6.

And if those are quotations from a dictionary or grammar, please credit your source.

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