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Ask for help > Help? ´to be ´ + verb and ´have to ´ problem.
Help? ´to be ´ + verb and ´have to ´ problem.
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dlpreba
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Help? ´to be ´ + verb and ´have to ´ problem.
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Help...?
I never realised I ´D have so many questions about my own language... Can someone help me? My partner is asking me these questions and I feel stupid that I can ´t answer them.
Makes me wonder however am I to teach a class when I can ´t answer his questions?
Question is:
´to be ´ + verb
and
´have to ´
What is the difference and which is better to use?
In which case and why?
Ex:
I ´m to see him tomorrow.
I have to see him tomorrow.
Thanks in advance....
Darrell |
26 Oct 2009
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priorita
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Dear Darrell,
in the case you ´ve proposed we use have to when we need to meet but we can cancel the meeting if we don ´t want to meet. to be+verb is used when the meeting had been definitely and strictly planned before. Is it clear? |
26 Oct 2009
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dlpreba
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Priorita, thank you.
And thanks for the message as well.
D |
26 Oct 2009
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lockman
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I have to see him but I am not going there to see him.Anyway it is always up to me to decide.It is just a moral obligation but still not compulsory.
I am to see him _willy nilly_.I feel i have no choice.Otherwise something bad will happen.
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26 Oct 2009
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**********
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I have to see my doctor twice a year, to check on my thyroid.
I ´ve seen her last June and she told me I am to see her next December.
Best regards. |
26 Oct 2009
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alien boy
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´have ´ + infinitive (to) is used to mean obligation; the meaning is similar to must.
´to be +verb ´ is a little more complicated...
From Swann ´s ´Practical English Usage (3rd ed):
We use passive infinitives if we are thinking more about the action, or the person/thing that the action is done to.
The carpets to be cleaned are in the garage. (NOT The carrets trJ clean ... )
His desk is covered with forms to be filled in.
After be, we normally use passive infinitives in these cases.
These sheets are to be washed. (NOT These sheets are trJ wtlsh.)
This form is to be filled in in ink. (NOT This farm is trJ fill in )
The cleaning is to be finished by midday. (NOT ... is trJ finish )
or
progressive infinitives suggest that actions and events are / were / will be continuing around the time that we are talking about.
It ´s nice to be sitting here with you.
I noticed that he seemed to be smoking a lot.
Now there are a few other things too... & again I ´ll just quote directly from Swann ...
91 be + infinitive: I am to ...,you are to ... etc
1 plans and arrangements: He is to visit Nigeria
We use this structure in a formal style to talk about official and other plans and arrangements.
The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June.
I felt nervous because I was soon to leave home for the first time.
A perfect infinitive can be used to show that a planned event did not happen.
I was to have started work last week, but I changed my mind.
2 ´fate ´: We were to meet again
Another use is to talk about things which are/were ´hidden in the future ´, fated
to happen.
I thought we were saying goodbye for ever. But we were to meet again, many years later, under very strange circumstances.
3 pre-conditions: If we are to get there in time ...
The structure is common in if-clauses, when the main clause expresses a pre-condition - something that must happen first if something else is to happen.
If we are to get there by lunchtime we had better hurry.
He knew he would have to work hard if he was to pass his exam.
4 orders: You are to do your homework
The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
You are to do your homework before you watch TV.
She can go to the party, but she ´s not to be back late.
5 be + passive infinitive: It is not to be removed
Be + passive infinitive is often used in notices and instructions. am/are/is (not) to be + past participle
This cover is not to be removed.
Sometimes only the passive infinitive is used.
To be taken three times a day after meals. (on a medicine bottle)
Some other common expressions with be + passive infinitive:
There ´s nothing to be done. She was nowhere to be found.
I looked out of the window, but there was nothing to be seen.
6 tenses
Note that this structure exists only in present and past tenses. We cannot say that somebody has been to go somewhere, or will/must be to go somewhere. Participle structures (being to go) are not possible either.
92 be and have
1 physical conditions: hunger, thirst etc
To talk about experiencing hunger, thirst, heat, cold and certain other common physical conditions, we normally use be (or feel) + adjective, not have + noun. Note the following expressions:
be hungry (not have hunger); be thirsty; be warm; be hot; be cold; be sleepy; be afraid
Note also: be right; be wrong; be lucky.
2 age, height, weight, size and colour
Be is also used to talk about age, height, length, weight, size, shape and colour.
I ´m nearly thirty. (NOT I have nearly thirty.) She is nearly my age. He is six feet tall.
I wish I was ten kilos lighter. What size are your shoes? The room is ten metres long. What colour are his eyes? She is the same height as her father.
Be heavy is not usually used in measuring expressions.
It weighs 37 kilos. (NOT It ´s 37 kilos heavy.)
Hope that ´s not too overboard,
AB
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26 Oct 2009
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Malvine
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In one word:
I am to interview the minister tomorrow = it ´s planned, arranged.
I have to go or else I ´ll miss the bus = must, obligation. |
27 Oct 2009
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