have to

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have to

/ˈhæv.tuː/ UK
/ˈhæf.tu/ Australia, Canada, US
/ˈhæf.tə/

Where it comes from

Dates back at least to the Old English habban + tō construction, with the same meaning as sense 1 below.

verb has to · having to · had to · hafta

Must; need to; to be urged to; to be required to; indicates obligation. You have to wear a seat belt.
Similar: need to, have got to, got to, gotta
with be Must; expresses a logical conclusion. that has to be the postman; it has to be an electrical fault
Similar: be bound to, have got to, got to, gotta, must

Translations

Every language

verb obligation

Español	tener que, haber que, haber de, no tener más que, no quedar(le) de otra que
한국어	해야 하다 haeya hada
日本語	...ないと駄目だ ...-nai to dame da, ...なきゃ ...nakya, ...なくちゃ ...nakucha
中文	應該 /应该 yīnggāi, 必須 /必须 bìxū, 要 yào, 不得不 bùdébù, 非……不可 fēi ... bùkě
Português	ter que, haver de
Français	devoir, falloir, avoir à
Deutsch	müssen, (zu tun) haben
Italiano	dovere
Română	trebui
Русский	до́лжен dólžen, должна́ dolžná, должно́ dolžnó, должны́ dolžný
Tiếng Việt	phải
العربية	يَضْطَر yaḍṭar
עברית	צריך tsarích

verb conclusion

中文	一定 yīdìng, 肯定 kěndìng
Français	devoir
Русский	до́лжен dólžen, должна́ dolžná, должно́ dolžnó, должны́ dolžný

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MLA

"have to." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/have%20to. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

have to. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/have%20to

Chicago

"have to." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/have%20to.

BibTeX

@misc{have_to_2026,
  title = {have to},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/have%20to},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}