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Virginia274 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Past modals and phrasal modals
Hi,
I've just studied how to use past modals and phrasal modals of obligation but my problem is that when I come across with a sentence I don't know which one should be used. I know that we use Had+to and Was/were +to for strong obligation, Was/were+supposed to/required to/expected to/allowed to for expectation,Should/shouldn't+have+p.p for advisability,Needed to/didn't need to for necessity and for No obligation Didn't have to.
but for example in this sentence:
They had to change their plans because one of them was ill.
How can I choose the one which is the most suitable?You know, I think I can use all of them.Please help me.
I've just studied how to use past modals and phrasal modals of obligation but my problem is that when I come across with a sentence I don't know which one should be used. I know that we use Had+to and Was/were +to for strong obligation, Was/were+supposed to/required to/expected to/allowed to for expectation,Should/shouldn't+have+p.p for advisability,Needed to/didn't need to for necessity and for No obligation Didn't have to.
but for example in this sentence:
They had to change their plans because one of them was ill.
How can I choose the one which is the most suitable?You know, I think I can use all of them.Please help me.
Top answer
virginia274 They had to change their plans because one of them was ill. The process of thought is this: Had -indicates past. Someone was feeling, which necessitated the change of plan.
- virginia274 They had to change their plans because one of them was ill.
- The process of thought is this: Had -indicates past.
- Someone was feeling, which necessitated the change of plan.
- It should be past tense.
- If we say: " We have to change the picnic plan if the weather should deteriorate.
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5 Answers
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virginia274They had to change their plans because one of them was ill.The process of thought is this: Had -indicates past. Someone was feeling, which necessitated the change of plan. It should be past tense.
If we say: " We have to change the picnic plan if the weather should deteriorate.
" Have to " connotes obligation of present
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virginia274How can I choose the one which is the most suitable?You know, I think I can use all of them.Please help me.Many of the expressions you list would suggest that there was an obligation that was not fulfilled.
Only 'had to' and 'needed to' work with the idea of an obligation that was fulfilled.
'were/required/expected to/allowed to
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I know what you mean but I'm still a little confused.What about this one?
we.................finish our project on time.
Can't I use Had to,Needed to,Were required/expected/allowed to here?I think all of them as choices for the blank are correct.
Thank you.
we.................finish our project on time.
Can't I use Had to,Needed to,Were required/expected/allowed to here?I think all of them as choices for the blank are correct.
Thank you.
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virginia274Can't I use Had to,Needed to, ...You can always, or practically always, use any of those modals without creating a grammatical mistake. The question is whether the meaning is suitable, and sometimes whether the register (formal, not too formal, informal, casual) is suitable.
We had to finish our project on time. This is the most n
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