You're right, Scott. "Have to," "used to" and "ought to" (aka *hafta*, * useta*, *oughta*) are sometimes called quasimodals. (I don't think that was Victor Hugo's idea, but I could be wrong). Dick On Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 1:40 PM, Scott Woods <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Dear List, > > Is it reasonable to think of "have + infinitive" as a modal construction > with the infinitive being the verb of the sentence? > > <I have to go> <I have to eat> <I ought to go> < I ought to eat> <I must > go> <I must eat> all seem like very similar ways of saying the same thing. > > Thanks, > Scott Woods > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or > leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/