oughta
Informal moral imperative
Oughta is an informal spelling of "ought to," representing how the phrase sounds in casual speech: You oughta see this movie, We oughta get going.
Like gonna, wanna, and gotta, it captures spoken rhythm on the page and appears mainly in dialogue or informal writing.
Casual "will" contraction
- wannaDesire to, casually
- kindaCasual somewhat
- sortaInformal partial affirmative
- lemmeContracted "let me"
gimme · dunno · ain't · y'all · fixin' to · hafta · coulda · woulda
Expresses obligation or expectation
- mustObligatory requirement
- supposed toExpected or required
- gottaColloquial for must
- need toAre required to
have to · better · required · expected · duty · responsibility · necessity · bound
gonna
Casual "will" contraction
lemme · gimme · dunno · ain't · y'all · fixin' to · hafta · coulda · woulda · shoulda
should
Expresses obligation or expectation
- mustObligatory requirement
- supposed toExpected or required
- gottaColloquial for must
need to · have to · better · required · expected · duty · responsibility · necessity · bound · obligated
recommend
Suggest with approval
wise · smart · good idea · better off · try · worth · could · advisable · prudent · sensible
probably
Almost certainly true
guess · assume · imagine · expect · surely · bound to · certainly · presumably · naturally · logically