have to

present singular third person has to · participle present having to · participle past had to · past had to · alternative colloquial hafta

1. Must; need to; to be urged to; to be required to; indicates obligation.

   You have to wear a seat belt.

   5 more examples

   I have to go to the bathroom.

   I just have to have that shirt.

   Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.

   She said you had not to talk to me, but you don't have to obey her anymore.

   I was about to say that I had known the Celebrity from the time he wore kilts. But I see I will have to amend that, because he was not a celebrity then, nor, indeed, did he achieve fame until some time after I left New York for the West.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

   Synonyms: need to, have got to, got to, gotta

2. Must; expresses a logical conclusion.

   that has to be the postman; it has to be an electrical fault

   Synonyms: be bound to, have got to, got to, gotta, must