Ought vs Could - What's the difference?
ought | could |
(obsolete) (owe)
* 1526 , William Tyndale, trans. Bible , Luke VII:
*, Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.182:
(auxiliary) Indicating duty or obligation.
(auxiliary) Indicating advisability or prudence.
(auxiliary) Indicating desirability.
(auxiliary) Indicating likelihood or probability.
* , chapter=3
, title= anything
* Bishop Joseph Hall
at all, to any degree.
A statement of what ought to be the case as contrasted with what is the case.
* {{quote-book, year=1996, title=The Time of Our Lives: The Ethics of Common Sense, author=Mortimer Jerome Adler
, passage=There are value judgments that are not reducible to observable matters of fact, and there are oughts that cannot be construed as hypothetical and, therefore, cannot be converted into statements of fact.
* {{quote-book, year=2004, title=Truth Matters: Essays in Honor of Jacques Maritain, author=Jacques Maritain, John G. Trapani
, passage=Is there a fallacy involved in deriving an ought from a set of exclusively factual or descriptive premises?
(can)
conditional of can
#
# (Used to politely ask for permission to do something).
# ( Used to politely ask for someone else to do something).
# (Used to show the possibility that something might happen).
#* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= # (Used to suggest something).
As verbs the difference between ought and could
is that ought is (obsolete) (owe) or ought can be (auxiliary) indicating duty or obligation while could is (can).As a pronoun ought
is anything .As an adverb ought
is at all, to any degree.As a noun ought
is a statement of what ought to be the case as contrasted with what is the case or ought can be cipher, zero, nought.ought
English
Etymology 1
(etyl)Verb
(head)- There was a certayne lender, which had two detters, the one ought five hondred pence, and the other fifty.
- witnesse Aristippus , who being urged with the affection he ought his children, as proceeding from his loynes, began to spit.
Verb
(head)Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=My hopes wa'n't disappointed. I never saw clams thicker than they was along them inshore flats. I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out. Clams was fairly scarce over that side of the bay and ought to fetch a fair price.}}
Usage notes
* Ought'' is an auxiliary verb; it takes a following verb as its complement. This verb may appear either as a full infinitive (such as "to go") or a bare infinitive (such as simple "go"), depending on region and speaker; the same range of meanings is possible in either case. Additionally, it's possible for ''ought not to take any complement, in which case a verb complement is implied, as in, "You really ought to [do so]." * The negative of ought'' is either ''ought not (to)'' or ''oughtn't (to)Synonyms
* should (In all senses)See also
* ought to *Pronoun
(English Pronouns)- Is it a small benefit, that I am placed there where I see no drunken comessations, no rebellious routs, no violent oppressions, no obscene rejoicings, nor ought else that might either vex or affright my soul?
Adverb
(-)See also
* aught * naught * noughtNoun
(en noun)citation
citation
References
* *Etymology 2
Statistics
*could
English
Alternative forms
* (obsolete)Verb
(head)- Before I was blind, I could see very well.
- I think he could do it if he really wanted to.
- I wish I could fly!
Travels and travails, passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}