Wednesday, April 09, 2014


How to use have to,supposed to,ought to  
 
Using have to, supposed to, and ought to Have to is the same as must. It implies that you don't have a choice.
John has to go to work everyday.
The students have to study tonight.
To be supposed to means an obligation. It is something that you should do, or something that another person expects you to do. Don't forget to use the verb be in front of supposed to.
Sally is supposed to meet her friend tonight.
All of the employees are supposed to attend today's meeting.
Ought to means a suggestion. You should do something but you don't have to do it.
We ought to clean the house tonight.
Phillip ought to help you with your homework.
(Notice that all of these words are modals. They are followed by a verb.)
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You may feel confused about the slight differences between these words. Just think about what the speaker is implying.
I have to do my homework. (If I don't, will be in trouble.)
I am supposed to do my homework. (If I don't, my teacher will notice that I didn't do it.)
I ought to do my homework. (I don't have to if I don't want to, but I feel I should do it because I want to do well in the class.)
 Hear and Listen to

Hear- you do this without thinking. It is inactive. Example- When I leave my home every morning, I hear the birds singing in the trees.
Listen to- this is an active word. You must think about what you are doing. Example- I really listen to my husband when he tells me about his day.


 Used to as an adjective and as a verb
 
There is a little confusion on how to use the words use to and used to. One reason for the confusion is that it is sometimes used as a verb, and sometimes used as an adjective. The other reason is because it seems like the tense changes. It's really quite simple when you look at it.
Used as an adjective. Use to be + used to. This means to be accustomed to. For example- I can study with the TV on. I am used to it. It means I am accustomed, adjusted, or don't mind having the TV play while I'm studying. Or another example- Tim had a hard time living in Tokyo. He wasn't used to so many people. Tim didn't have experience being with big crowds of people before.
Used as a verb. Use to + verb is a regular verb and means something that happened but doesn't happen any more. It uses -ed to show past tense. But since it always means something that happened in the past, it should always use past tense. For example- I used to go to school in Paris. (I went to school there before, but now I don't.) Or, When Joshua was a child, he used to climb trees. (Now he doesn't climb trees.)
Remember, we always use this word when talking about the past. So when do you use use to without the d at the end? When the base form of the verb is used. Look at these examples- She didn't use to swim before noon. (Now she does swim before noon.) Or Did your father use to ride a horse? In these cases the past tense is shown with the did and didn't.

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