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JJDouglas Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

"Ought to of have"

"I think my working overtime comes from guilt more than anything. My attention span isn't great, and sometimes, by the end of the day, I feel that I haven't done as much work as I ought to of have."

Is "ought to of have" ungrammatical? Would just "ought to" be fine? Or "ought to've"? On a related note, is "to've" an acceptable contraction?
  

Top answer

"ought to of have" is incorrect. ' ' as I ought ' and ' as I ought to've ' are not wrong.

— Clive

  • "ought to of have" is incorrect.
  • ' ' as I ought ' and ' as I ought to've ' are not wrong.
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4 Answers
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"ought to of have" is incorrect. The natural phrase would be 'as much work as I ought to have.'

'as I ought' and 'as I ought to've' are not wrong.
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JJDouglasIs "ought to of have" ungrammatical?
Yes, it's ungrammatical. Use "should have" instead.
JJDouglas On a related note, is "to've" an acceptable contraction?
No.

[cross-posted with Clive]
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teechrNo.
Is there any reason why it's not acceptable. You can still say "to have", can't you?
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JJDouglasIs there any reason why it's not acceptable.
It's not standard in modern English; a century or two ago, it might have been.
JJDouglasYou can still say "to have", can't you?
Of course! But that's not the same as "to've."
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