Have to / need to - At some point in my 20s it was pointed out to me that “need to” is the correct phrase and that “have to” isn’t correct. But actually “have to” is used in both English and Spanish “tengo que” which is “have to” or technically “have that”. Grammatically, if “have” is a state of being then “have to” is like a state of being with a direction or target implied.
While I might use them interchangeably, as a non-native I would think “need to” is supposed to mean that the situation came out of necessity, such as feeling the need to pee or resorting to selling your car because of an empty wallet, while “have to” is more like the result of some rules or discipline, such as showing up to work in time - but I understand that the line between the two can be rather blurry.
As for my thing: there are a few shortened words in my language (similarly to the English “hubby”, “preggo”, etc.) that got shortened according to pronunciation, and not the original (longer) word, having a different spelling at the start (as if “circle” got shortened to “circ”, but spelled as “cirk”). It feels like a kid came up with the spelling, and now it’s the official form. It’s bugging my inner spelling nazi every time I see it.
Relatedly, it really bugs me out when I’m watching English-language media from outside North America and someone says “what are we meant to do” in a situation where I would say “what are we supposed to do”. Like, a lot. Best I can figure, it implies to me a sort of outside intention driving one’s actions, as opposed to the mere regard implied by “supposed”, and my anti-authoritarian ass rankles at that.
Wow. Do you know the feeling when someone brings your attention to something that you had been ignoring pretty much all your life, and from that point it drives you mad every single time? Yeah, you have just done that with the meant to/supposed to thing. You’re SO totally right! Aaaand you cursed me.
Have to / need to - At some point in my 20s it was pointed out to me that “need to” is the correct phrase and that “have to” isn’t correct. But actually “have to” is used in both English and Spanish “tengo que” which is “have to” or technically “have that”. Grammatically, if “have” is a state of being then “have to” is like a state of being with a direction or target implied.
While I might use them interchangeably, as a non-native I would think “need to” is supposed to mean that the situation came out of necessity, such as feeling the need to pee or resorting to selling your car because of an empty wallet, while “have to” is more like the result of some rules or discipline, such as showing up to work in time - but I understand that the line between the two can be rather blurry.
As for my thing: there are a few shortened words in my language (similarly to the English “hubby”, “preggo”, etc.) that got shortened according to pronunciation, and not the original (longer) word, having a different spelling at the start (as if “circle” got shortened to “circ”, but spelled as “cirk”). It feels like a kid came up with the spelling, and now it’s the official form. It’s bugging my inner spelling nazi every time I see it.
Relatedly, it really bugs me out when I’m watching English-language media from outside North America and someone says “what are we meant to do” in a situation where I would say “what are we supposed to do”. Like, a lot. Best I can figure, it implies to me a sort of outside intention driving one’s actions, as opposed to the mere regard implied by “supposed”, and my anti-authoritarian ass rankles at that.
Anyone else have feelings about this one?
Wow. Do you know the feeling when someone brings your attention to something that you had been ignoring pretty much all your life, and from that point it drives you mad every single time? Yeah, you have just done that with the meant to/supposed to thing. You’re SO totally right! Aaaand you cursed me.