Having to do something
I have to fix the lamp tomorrow.
Left column: the order of the concepts, as chips — the slots you fill (who, action, thing, when) and the fixed words the language adds (a modal, a negator, a question marker). Click a slot, here or in the bar above, to choose what goes in it. Right column: the sentence those concepts make, the other orders the language allows, and the other ways to say it — each with what it changes. The rows are the languages switched on at the top of the page.
Try:
| Language | The order of the concepts | The sentence, other orders, other ways to say it |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishEnglish | have to modal 'have to' conjugates (has to) because it is an ordinary verb; 'must' never does. The two differ in who imposes the duty. | I have to fix the lamp tomorrow. Other ways to say it I must fix the lamp tomorrow. formal the obligation comes from the speaker — a conviction, a written rule. 'I must call her' is your own sense of duty; 'I have to' is outside pressure. I've got to fix the lamp tomorrow. casual spoken British: urgent and informal. Said fast it is 'gotta'. |
| FrançaisFrench | dois modal devoir + infinitive. It also means 'probably': il doit être là — he must be there. | demain Après-demain = the day after tomorrow. Je dois réparer la lampe demain. Other ways to say it Il faut réparer la lampe demain. neutral “it is necessary” il faut — 'it is necessary to'. No person at all: it says the job must be done, not who must do it. The most common way to say 'have to' in speech. |
| EspañolSpanish | tengo modalque modal tener que + infinitive, 'to have that', is the everyday 'have to': tengo que arreglar. The que is fixed and has nothing to do with a question. | mañana Also 'morning' (la mañana): mañana por la mañana = tomorrow morning. Pasado mañana = the day after tomorrow. Tengo que arreglar la lámpara mañana. Other ways to say it Debo arreglar la lámpara mañana. formal debo — 'I must'. A duty rather than a practical need: more formal, more moral, what a rule or a conscience says. Hay que arreglar la lámpara mañana. neutral “there is that” hay que — no person at all: it says the job must be done, not who must do it — like French il faut. |
Hover a word to see which concept it fills. The verb is always in its dictionary form: every pattern here is built on a modal, which carries the person and the tense, so any verb stays grammatical in every language. Where the modal is an ending (Korean, Japanese, Hindi's 'can'), the stem is computed. What this cannot show is agreement beyond the modal — adjectives, plural objects — which the grammar chapters cover.
For the same idea said at three levels of politeness, see Compare.