haber + de + infinitive

Question

Verb: haber + de + infinitive / to have to, or to be supposed to

Pronoun	English	Spanish
I / yo	..I have (to speak)..	..he (de hablar)..
you / tú	..you have to speak..	..has (de hablar)..
he-she / Ud.-él-ella	..he has to speak..	..ha (de hablar)..
we / nosotros, -as	..we have to speak..	..hemos (de hablar)..
you / vosotros, -as	..you have to speak..	..habéis (de hablar)..
they / Uds.-ellos,ellas	..they have to speak..	..han (de hablar)..

He de hablar de conjugación.

I have to speak of conjugation.

Sometimes haber is used with the preposition de plus an infinitive to mean "to have to" or "to be supposed to." Can you think of more infinitives that will work with this formula? - Maria-Russell, Aug 31, 2011

deber de+infinitive =probability deber+infinitive=should - 0074b507, Aug 31, 2011

Answer 1

I found this.

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I've seen this page before. I just haven't seen this construction used. - pesta, Aug 31, 2011

Answer 2

"a) haber de + infinitivo. En el español general, esta perífrasis denota obligación, conveniencia o necesidad de que el sujeto realice la acción expresada por el verbo —o, si el infinitivo es pasivo, de que le suceda lo expresado por el verbo— y equivale a tener que, fórmula preferida en el habla corriente" (RAE):

He de reconocer que es bonita. I have to admit that she is nice.

"A veces expresa, simplemente, acción futura" (RAE):

Me he de comer esa tuna. I will eat that prickly pear.

Haber de also can express probability in much the same way that "have to" (or sometimes "must") in English can express probability rather than obligation:

Ha de ser emocionanate viajar en globo.It must be exciting to travel in balloon.

Has de ser millonario. You must be rich.

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Thank you, I had not noticed it being used at all and didn't believe this form existed. Thanks for explaining. - annierats, Aug 31, 2011

Answer 3

Inspired by the kindness of Lazarus on another question I shall attempt to answer this. You have to use TENER , and it is QUE in this instance, with hablar, ie. Tengo que hablar, tienes que hablar etc.

What does this formula mean then? - Maria-Russell, Aug 31, 2011

How can I use "haber + de + infinitive in a sentence? Or, any other infinitive for that matter. - Maria-Russell, Aug 31, 2011

Oh dear, you should disreagard this.. I shall shut up for the foreseeable future. - annierats, Aug 31, 2011

My answer would best be deleted. I shall rephrase it into a question. I looked up haber de hablar and it exists, this shows one should not enter deep water before learning to swim. - annierats, Aug 31, 2011

Hey, some people like to know what's in the water underneath them! ;) - territurtle, Sep 1, 2011

Sharks! - annierats, Sep 1, 2011