110. All the three verbs serve to express obligation. Must,
however, sounds more forceful, peremptory.
e-g. You must do it at once. ( ()
.)
Both should and ought to express obligation, advisability, de-
sirability and are used when must would sound too peremptory.
e-g- You should do it at once. ( ()
You ought to do it at once. .)
Should and ought to are very much alike in meaning and are
often interchangeable. In using ought to, however, we lay more
stress on the meaning of moral obligation, whereas should is com-
mon in instructions and corrections.
e.g. You ought to help him; he is in trouble.
You should use the definite article in this sentence.
Notice that ought to cannot be used instead of the emotional
should.
111. Must, ought to and should serve to express supposition
implying strong probability. Must, however, seems to be in more
frequent use than the other two verbs.
should + Perfect Infinitive, ought to + Perfect Infinitive
and was/were to + Perfect Infinitive Compared
112. Should + Perfect infinitive and ought to + Perfect infin-
itive show that the action has not been carried out though it was
desirable; was/were to + Perfect infinitive indicates an action that
has not been carried out though it was planned.
e.g. You should have helped him.
You ought to have warn him (Now he is in trouble.)
He was to have arrived last week. {But his plans were upset
by some cause or other.)
will and would
113. The verb will1 has the following forms: will the
present tense and would the past tense. The latter form is used
in two ways: a) in past-time contexts to express an actual fact and
b) in present-time contexts to express unreality or as a milder and
more polite form of Will.
1 Will and would may also be used as verbs of full predication (not modal verb-)
Will may be used as a regular verb {wills, willed). It means ,
, . Would is a defective verb. It is used with reference to the
present and means ''. It is found mainly in poetry and like the verb to wish
followed by an object clause (see "Verbs", 132), e.g. / would I were a careless child
While shall and should are treated as two different verbs in
modern English, will and would are considered to be the forms of
the same verb, its original meaning being that of volition.J How-
ever, in some of their meanings the use of will is parallel only to
would which denotes an actual fact in the past; in other meanings
will is found alongside would which expresses unreality in the
present or serves as a milder or more polite form of will.
114. The use of will and would which denotes an actual fact
in the past is parallel in the following cases:
1) When they express habitual or recurrent actions,
e.g. She will (would) sit for hours under the old oak tree looking
at the beautiful country around her (... [] -
, []...).
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In addition to indicating a habitual action, will (would) in this
case implies willingness, personal interest on the part of the doer
of the action. Will (would) in this meaning is found in affirmative
sentences and is followed by the simple infinitive.
In present-time contexts will in this meaning is not common. In
past-time contexts would is mainly characteristic of literary style.
e.g. Then there were weekends when he would ride over to the
house of one farmer or another and spend a couple of nights
on the hills.
2) When they express refusal to perform an action,
e.g. The doctor knows I won't be operated on.
He was wet through, but he wouldn't change.
This meaning is found in negative sentences; will (would) is
followed by the simple infinitive. In Russian it is usually ren-
dered as , .
3) When they are used with lifeless things to show that a
thing fails to perform its immediate function.
e.g. My fountain pen won't (wouldn't) write.
The door won't (wouldn't) open.
' Volition is a general term which includes such meanings as willingness, readi-
ness, consent, intention and determination to perform an action.
In this meaning will (would) is found in negative sentences
and is followed by the simple infinitive. In Russian it is usually
rendered as { ),
( ) and the like.
4) When they are used with the first person to express will, in-
tention or determination,
e.g. "Damn it!" he thought, "I'm going to get out of this hole. I
will make money."
I am an Englishman, and I will suffer no priest to interfere in
my business.
I said I would do anything for him.
We decided that we wouldn't interfere.
This meaning is found in affirmative and negative sentences.
The present tense will, in addition to expressing its modal meaning,
serves to refer an action to the future; the past tense would is gen-
erally used in reported speech and also serves to refer an action to
the future but in this case it is viewed from a past moment.
115. The use of will and would which expresses unreality in
the present or serves as a milder or more polite form of will is
parallel in the following cases:
1) in interrogative sentences where they express willingness,
consent,
e.g. Will you dine with me tomorrow, Lewis?
"Won't you sit down?" said the doctor.
You'll forgive me, won't you?
"Would you do it?" she asked eagerly.
2) in clauses of condition introduced by if (see also "Verbs".
149) where they also express willingness, consent,
e.g. "It's about forty minutes' walk from here and if you'll come
now I'll go with you," she said.
No, we are not going to quarrel at all if you'll only let me
talk.
If you would stand by me I should have another try.
In both cases will (would) is followed by the simple infinitive
and the action always refers to the future.
Both interrogative and conditional sentences are often actually
polite requests in this case. There is hardly any difference be-
tween the use of will and would here; the role of would is to make
the request still more polite.
116. The use of will and would is not parallel in the follow-
ing cases:
1) Will may be used to express supposition with reference to
the present or to the future in combination with the simple infini-
tive, or to the past in combination with the Perfect infinitive. This
meaning is found with the second and third persons.
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e.g. This will be the school, I believe. (, -,
.)
You will have heard the news, I'm sure. ( ,
.)
It should be noted that the use of will in this meaning is not
common.
2) Would may be used rather sarcastically to express that
something was to be expected. It is found in affirmative and neg-
ative sentences.
e.g. "Auntie Meg has been very brave." "Yes. She would be brave."
(That was to be expected of her under the circumstances.)
"I don't understand him and I don't approve of his decision."
"No, you wouldn't." (/ did not expect you would.)
This meaning can be rendered in Russian as
.
3) Note the use of will in the following sentences:
e.g. Boys will be boys. ( .)
Accidents will happen. ( -
.)
4) Note the set phrases with will and would:
a) Will not have (won't have) followed by an object and an in-
finitive without to means 'I'll see to it that it does not happen.'
e-g. "I will not (won't) have you speak to me like that, her voice
came sharply. ( , ...)
b) Both would rather ('d rather) and would sooner ('d sooner)
followed by an infinitive without to mean 'to prefer'.
e.g. "I'd rather do it myself," said Luke.
He'd sooner die than let me think he was a failure.
e) Would... mind in interrogative and negative sentences means
'to object'.
e.g. Would you mind my staying here for a while?
I wouldn't mind your telling them about Hardy.
Would...mind in interrogative sentences may also express a
polite request.
e.g. Would you mind getting me a cup of tea?
117. Would also occurs in certain subordinate clauses where
it is structurally dependent (for a detailed treatment of this case
see "Verbs", 132).
e.g. I wish the rain would stop for a moment.
I wish they wouldn't insist on it.
Need
118. The modal verb need may be used either as a defective
or as a regular verb.
1) Need as a defective verb has only one form which is the
present tense. In reported speech it remains unchanged. It is fol-
lowed by the infinitive without to.
Need expresses necessity. When reference is made to the
present or future it is followed by the simple infinitive. It is used
in negative and interrogative sentences. l
In interrogative sentences need usually implies that there is no
necessity of performing the action.
e.g. You needn't be afraid of me. ( /
.)
You need not meet him unless you'd like to.
Need I repeat it? ( / ?)
1 Occasionally it may be found in affirmative sentences but it is not typical.
In negative sentences it is not always the verb need that is in
the negative form; the negation may be found elsewhere in the
sentence.
e.g. I don't think we need give her any more of our attention.
I need hardly say that I agree with you.
In combination with the Perfect infinitive need expresses an
action which has been performed though it was unnecessary. It im-
plies a waste of time or effort.
e.g- You needn't have come. The deal is off. ( (
) . .)
It was obvious. You needn't have protested.
We needn't have told him a lie even if we didn't want to tell
him the truth. ( ( )
... ...)
Note. Note that the Russian sentence /
() is rendered in English as You needn't worry (be nervous).
2) As a regular verb need can have all the necessary forms, in-
cluding the verbals. It also expresses necessity. It is followed by
the infinitive with to and is mainly used in interrogative and nega-
tive sentences (like the defective need).
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