NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q39: You should to read the newspapers regularly if you want to

Q: What is the answer to NDA (II) 2016 GAT Q39?

B. Correct — B, have to. The printed 'should to read' is faulty because 'should' is a modal auxiliary and is always followed by the plain form of the verb with no 'to'; of the four options only 'have to' produces a well-formed string, since 'have to' carries its own 'to' and is completed by the plain verb — 'You have to read the newspapers regularly.'

NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 39 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

You should to read the newspapers regularly if you want to be well-informed.

(a)ought
(b)have to
(c)should be
(d)NO IMPROVEMENT

Answer

Why

Correct — B, have to. The printed 'should to read' is faulty because 'should' is a modal auxiliary and is always followed by the plain form of the verb with no 'to'; of the four options only 'have to' produces a well-formed string, since 'have to' carries its own 'to' and is completed by the plain verb — 'You have to read the newspapers regularly.'

Why the others are wrong

(a)ought — 'Ought' is the one modal that keeps 'to' before the verb, so replacing the underlined words by 'ought' alone would give 'You ought read', which is wrong; the option would have needed to print 'ought to'.
(c)should be — It gives 'You should be read the newspapers', which turns the verb passive while leaving the newspapers standing as an object and the reader as the thing being read.
(d)NO IMPROVEMENT — 'Should to' is the deliberate error in the item; a modal auxiliary cannot be followed by 'to'.

Concept

Modal auxiliaries take the plain form of the verb, with 'ought' as the single exception that keeps 'to'.

In meaning, 'ought to' would sit closest to the advice the sentence is giving, and a candidate who half-reads the options will grab it. The option as printed is only the bare word 'ought', which does not fit the slot, and this is exactly the discipline the paper is testing — substitute the option into the sentence word for word before judging it. 'Have to' expresses obligation rather than advice, a slight shift in force, but it is the only replacement that leaves a grammatical sentence.

Key facts

Can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would and must are followed by the plain form of the verb.
'Ought' and 'used' are the two auxiliaries that keep 'to' before the verb.
'Have to' and 'need to' are semi-modals — they behave like ordinary verbs and change with the subject, as in 'he has to go'.

Study next

Modal auxiliaries and the plain verb form that follows themSemi-modals — have to, need to, be able to, used toDegrees of obligation from must and have to down to should and ought to

Common traps

Choosing the option that matches the meaning best without checking that it fits the slot word for word.
Inserting 'to' after a modal auxiliary.

Asked as a sentence-improvement item where a stray 'to' after a modal is the planted error and one option is deliberately printed a word short.

Related PYQs

NDA_GAT_2017_I_Q242017Open & attempt →

He ought not to tell me your secret, but he did.

(a) telling
(b) have told
(c) having told
(d) No improvement

Answer(b) have told

Both items test what may follow a modal. There the form after 'ought not to' has to become a perfect infinitive because the act is already over; here the plain form after 'should' must not be preceded by 'to' at all.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Which option best improves the underlined part — We must to leave before the gates are closed.
- (a)must
- (b)musts
- (c)must be
- (d)No improvement
Answer(a) must — a modal auxiliary is followed by the plain verb, with no 'to'.
practice — not a real PYQ
Which option best improves the underlined part — He ought apologise for what he said.
- (a)ought to
- (b)ought have
- (c)ought be
- (d)No improvement
Answer(a) ought to — 'ought' is the auxiliary that keeps 'to' before the verb.