have to
English
Alternative forms
- hafta (informal, nonstandard)
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈhæv.tuː/ (careful)
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈhæf.tu/ (careful)
Audio (US) (file) - (UK, US) IPA(key): /ˈhæf.tə/ (relaxed pronunciation)
Verb
have to (third-person singular simple present has to, present participle having to, simple past and past participle had to)
- Must; need to; to be required to. Indicates obligation.
- 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., OCLC 222716698:
- I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.
- 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:
- Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame.
- I just have to have that shirt; you have to wear a seat belt
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- (with be) Must (logical conclusion).
- that has to be the postman; it has to be an electrical fault
Usage notes
- have to is always followed by a bare infinitive verb, unless the verb is assumed:
- I don't want to go to school, but I have to.
Synonyms
("obligation"):
- have got to, got to, gotta
- must
("logical conclusion"):
- be bound to
- have got to, got to, gotta
- must
Translations
obligation
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conclusion
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also
- Appendix:English modal verbs
- Appendix:English tag questions