Hemos de ser

Question

Here is a sentence in La Casa en Mango Street: Hemos de ser Navidad. It is after the girls all tried on high-heel shoes and walked down the street to the corner where the men did not stop looking at them. I take it that it some expression of new found elation at their maturity. My question is why is the conjugation of Haber used with the infinitive "ser". How would this be translated?

Hemos de (infinitive) = tenemos que (infinitive)= debemos (infinitive)). Hemos de ser =we must be - 000a35ff, Jul 15, 2016

Thank you so much. I did not those were all alike. - RolloMartins, Jul 15, 2016

Good question mate. - ray76, Jul 16, 2016

great question. Debe de ser, Ha de ser-- both are like supposing, throwing out opinions - jmgarcia716, Jul 16, 2016

Answer 1

I agree with Astotxua except the use of believing to be for deber is deber de. Deber alone is the obligatory usage, ie: Debes pagar tus impuestos de ingreso anualmente, but: Ese señor gasta mucho, debe de ser (ha de ser) rico.

Thank you for the clarification - RolloMartins, Jul 15, 2016