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

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