Ought to have done

Question

Could you tell me what 'ought to have done' mean?

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

ought, auxiliary verb.
1. (used to express duty or moral obligation): Every citizen ought to help.
2. (used to express justice, moral rightness, or the like): He ought to be punished. You ought to be ashamed.
3. (used to express propriety, appropriateness, etc.): You ought to be home early. We ought to bring her some flowers.
4. (used to express probability or natural consequence): That ought to be our train now.
RHUD

The use of the perfect infinitive (have done) makes the sentence refer to the past.

CB

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousCould you tell me what 'ought to have done' means?

should have done

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Sir, do you mean it only works in the sense of advice ? What about the other items listed above? Thanks.

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousSir, do you mean it only works in the sense of advice ? What about the other items listed above? Thanks.

'ought to' and 'should' are close equivalents in almost every meaning they have.

Every citizen ought to help. ~ Every citizen should help.
He ought to be punished. ~ He should be punished
You ought to be ashamed. ~ You should be ashamed.
You ought to be home early. ~ You should be home early.
We ought to bring her some flowers. ~ We should bring her some flowers.
That ought to be our train now. ~ That should be our train now.

PAST:

Every citizen ought to have helped. ~ Every citizen should have helped.
He ought to have been punished. ~ He should have been punished.
You ought to have been ashamed. ~ You should have been ashamed.
You ought to have been home early. ~ You should have been home early.
We ought to have brought her some flowers. ~ We should have brought her some flowers.
That ought to have been be our train. ~ That should have been our train.

CJ

Ought to have done

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