Ought to emerges in learner’s work relatively late; it is not until the B1 level that learners are able to demonstrate competent use of this modal. At the B1 level, learners use the affirmative form (often with you in order to give advice).
I think you ought to go on holiday with both of them. (Cambridge English: Preliminary; Turkish)
Then, if you’d rather go with your friend, you ought to talk to your parents first, and tell them what you think about it. (Cambridge English: Preliminary; French)
I think that you ought to play tennis or football at the weekend. (Cambridge English: Preliminary; Swiss German)
B2 learners frequently use ought to in order to talk about desired states of affairs.
Furthermore, we ought to take care of our health by going on trips to unpolluted places as often as possible. (Cambridge English: First; French)
Of course not all zoos are as good as they ought to be, but today we know so much about the different animals that they don’t have to get bored in the zoo and we’re able to provide them with the environment they prefer. (Cambridge English: First; Danish)
There shouldn’t be any rubbish dumps; all the rubbish ought to be recycled. (Cambridge English: First; Portuguese)
They can also use ought to with ellipsis. However, this usage is low in frequency (as it is in native speaker data).
Otherwise some students would not get as much specialised help as they ought to. (Skills for Life: Level 1; German)
Learners make expected progress with ought to starting at the B1 level. Just as with the modal should the understanding of this modal’s usage and form expands as learners progress through CEFR levels (with it being seen in ellipsis at the B2 level just like should). Unlike other modals, the negative form (ought not/ oughtn’t) appears very infrequently in learner work at the B1 and B2 levels. Although this does improve as learners move to C1 and C2, the negative form remains relatively infrequent in learner work.
