He ought to have become a colonel.
Hello...
If he had stayed in the army he ought to have become a colonel.
Huddleston and Pullum say that the sentence is of very questionable acceptability.
But I found quite a few results in the same structure in Google.
I am curious how natives will think or feel about that sentence.
Maybe it’s just a hair-splitting thing by scholars?
Top answer
Hi Pructus The first part of your sentence identifies a point in time when something might have happened, the second part tells us what you think should have happened after that, if the first thing had happened Seemed pretty clear to me. There are various ideas about how tenses and modes should follow on in an if/then sentence. It's sometimes useful to know that other people think in that way, but I found the sentence clear and, personally, I don't feel helped by Huddleston's and Pullum's advice on it Just out of interest, how would H or P recast it?
- Hi Pructus The first part of your sentence identifies a point in time when something might have happened, the second part tells us what you think should have happened after that, if the first thing had happened Seemed pretty clear to me.
- There are various ideas about how tenses and modes should follow on in an if/then sentence.
- It's sometimes useful to know that other people think in that way, but I found the sentence clear and, personally, I don't feel helped by Huddleston's and Pullum's advice on it Just out of interest, how would H or P recast it?
- Would that add to what I've already understood?
- Best regards, Dave
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Hi Pructus
The first part of your sentence identifies a point in time when something might have happened, the second part tells us what you think should have happened after that, if the first thing had happened
Seemed pretty clear to me. There are various ideas about how tenses and modes should follow on in an if/then sentence. It's sometimes useful to know that other people think
0pructusI found quite a few results in the same structure in Google.
Can you tell us exactly which phrase you Googled? There may be a pattern which we might discover for you if we know what you Googled.
Specifically, did you include "become". I think that may be the part that H & P are doubtful about (bless their hearts).
CJ
0I'd guess the objection is to "ought to." The meaning is ambiguous.
If he had stayed in the army he would have become a colonel. (certainly)
If he had stayed in the army he might have become a colonel. (possibly)
If he had stayed in the army he could have become a colonel. (if the circumstances were favorable)
0Hi
If the writer uses the word 'ought', they are not describing metaphysical probability: they're saying that he would have deserved to become a colonel
Please yourselves
Dave
0Does that mean that, if I need to steal things this year but I feel a bit guilty about it, I can vow that I will not ought to steal things next year?
I'm not at all sure that you can inflect the imperative in that way
Dave
0
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