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Which one of the following two sentences is correct?

When you were young you ought to learn good habits.

When you were young you ought to have learnt good habits.

To me none of the sentences sound correct because both of them(ought to, ought to have) indicate present tense but the sentences is framed in the past tense.

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    Your first version incorrectly mixes Past you were with Present you ought to [do something]. The second version is correct - ought to have learned / learnt is a Present Perfect form (a past tense reflecting "still relevant to current time of utterance"). Note that it's ambiguous as to whether ought to (or the interchangeable should) actually refers to your "moral obligation" in the past, or whether the speaker is simply asserting the likelihood of the statement (about the past) being true now.
    – FumbleFingers
    Aug 3, 2019 at 16:21
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    ...so can you clarify the intended sense? Is the speaker chastising you for not learning good habits when you were young (even though that's what you were supposed to do at the time), or simply saying that you probably did do this?
    – FumbleFingers
    Aug 3, 2019 at 16:24
  • "Ought to" is a model like "should" or "must" and works the same way. There is no past tense for modals, but as in your examples, we combine it with have + pp to express past tense actions. It's a toss-up whether it should be "learned" or "learnt" though -- personally, I think "learnt" sounds a bit archaic, literary, and/or British.
    – Andrew
    Aug 3, 2019 at 16:38
  • I agree that learnt is technically fine, but I find it unidiomatic. At least in North America, learned is far more common.
    – Jason Bassford
    Aug 3, 2019 at 20:07
  • Jason Bassford - "learnt" doesn't have to be "idiomatic", any more than earnt, burnt, or spelt have to, because they are just the standard British spellings.
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 4, 2019 at 14:15

1 Answer 1

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Like should, the verb ought to does not have a past form. It is only used with reference to the present and the future. Ought to + have + past participle of main verb is used to express regret that something was not done or to reproach someone for doing or not doing something. If you wish to express a general truth, use the present, e.g. when you are young you ought to learn good habits.

Ought to

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  • Nit-pick: should is already in a “past form” (of shall).
    – Lawrence
    Jan 19, 2020 at 5:45

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