Talk:oughtn't

Latest comment: 10 months ago by JMGN in topic American English

Pronunciation

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Hello, is the pronunciation /ˈɔːn̩t/ correct ? Reptilien.19831209BE1 (talk) 20:01, 2 March 2019 (UTC)Reply

(to)

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The note in ought reads "The negative of ought is either ought not (to) or oughtn't (to)" --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:58, 7 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

Yes. Equinox 11:04, 7 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
@Equinox: However the one here doesn't offer the dropping of "to", reading "ought not" --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:12, 8 October 2019 (UTC)Reply
The negative of ought is ought not. The writer of the above put to in brackets to be helpful, to show how to form a sentence. The fact that it is in brackets indicates that it's not actually part of the negative phrase. Equinox 16:05, 13 October 2019 (UTC)Reply

American English

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In American English in particular (but increasingly evident in other standards) the bare infinitive is quite common in the negative.

https://www.eltconcourse.com/training/inservice/modality/central_modal_verbs.html JMGN (talk) 17:07, 19 August 2023 (UTC)Reply

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