Modal regret and obligation

Article excerpt · target grammar marked

He ought to have lived out a quiet working life. Damasio argued that we shouldn't have dismissed those fragments so quickly. His team needn't have relied on speculation alone. Gage should have received proper neurological follow-up.

Grammar Reference · Modal regret and obligation

should have /

We should have followed Harlow's case more carefully. — past advisability or mild regret

ought to have

He ought to have received better neurological care. — stronger moral expectation about the past

needn't have

They needn't have relied on speculation alone. — an action was done but was unnecessary

Common error

He should received care. ✗ → He should have received care. ✓ — always need have + past participle

01Exercise 1 — Form · Write the Correct Form

Modal regret and obligation

1.The doctors the personality changes as a purely moral problem.

2.Harlow his observations with more detail — later researchers had very little to work from.

3.The team built a new hypothesis from scratch; the original reports contained sufficient data.

4.Gage proper psychological assessment after the accident, but medicine lacked the tools.

5.Scientists the emotional dimension of cognition for so long.

6.Damasio the somatic marker hypothesis earlier — the evidence was available in Harlow's notes.

02Exercise 2 — Transform

rewrite with the new structure

1.It was wrong to dismiss Harlow's records.

2.It was unnecessary for the team to guess — the skull provided clear data.

3.It was the right thing to examine the emotional dimension of the case.

4.It was wrong to interpret personality change as a moral failing.

5.It was advisable to consult Harlow's original notes before building a new model.

6.It was unnecessary for the researchers to reconstruct everything from memory.

03Exercise 3 — About You

in your notebook

Personalise: complete five sentences about yourself using the target grammar.

Modal regret and obligation01EnglishPlans.com