“Are to” and “Have to”
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There's a question in an exam paper to which there's only one answer:
Students ______ to make tough decisions after the final exams are out.
Between 'have' and 'are', which most suitably fills the gap?
(the tense of the passage is present - from a newspaper actually)
grammar be have
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
favorite
There's a question in an exam paper to which there's only one answer:
Students ______ to make tough decisions after the final exams are out.
Between 'have' and 'are', which most suitably fills the gap?
(the tense of the passage is present - from a newspaper actually)
grammar be have
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
3
Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59
add a comment |
up vote
-1
down vote
favorite
up vote
-1
down vote
favorite
There's a question in an exam paper to which there's only one answer:
Students ______ to make tough decisions after the final exams are out.
Between 'have' and 'are', which most suitably fills the gap?
(the tense of the passage is present - from a newspaper actually)
grammar be have
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
There's a question in an exam paper to which there's only one answer:
Students ______ to make tough decisions after the final exams are out.
Between 'have' and 'are', which most suitably fills the gap?
(the tense of the passage is present - from a newspaper actually)
grammar be have
grammar be have
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
edited 2 days ago
Laurel
28.9k654103
28.9k654103
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
asked Aug 20 at 4:38
allan e
11
11
3
Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59
add a comment |
3
Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59
3
3
Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
The problem lies in the words "there's only one answer". Professor Pullum, co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has written of the problematic nature of exam questions which require a binary choice. [See below.]
In the present case, both answers are grammatical, although one is more probable than the other.
The construction "are to" has various possible uses. Swan in Practical English Usage (p80) lists 6 of these. Among them:
Usage 1: We use this structure in a formal style to talk about
official and other plans and arrangements.
- The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
- We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June. ...
Usage 5: The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
- You are to do your homework before watching TV. ...
Both of the above uses are conceivable in the present context. Much more likely, however, is the use of have to to express a necessity, equivalent to:
Students will need to make tough decisions after the final exams are
out.
Pullum in Correct/Incorrect Grammar-Test Items
I wish people would avoid using this sort of differential preference
in grammar-test items, testing for knowledge of a fictive
grammaticality distinction. If “Correct/Incorrect” test items are to
be used, the “Incorrect” choice better be genuinely incorrect.
See also Pullum in Grammar-Test Dispute Resolution.
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
1
down vote
The problem lies in the words "there's only one answer". Professor Pullum, co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has written of the problematic nature of exam questions which require a binary choice. [See below.]
In the present case, both answers are grammatical, although one is more probable than the other.
The construction "are to" has various possible uses. Swan in Practical English Usage (p80) lists 6 of these. Among them:
Usage 1: We use this structure in a formal style to talk about
official and other plans and arrangements.
- The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
- We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June. ...
Usage 5: The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
- You are to do your homework before watching TV. ...
Both of the above uses are conceivable in the present context. Much more likely, however, is the use of have to to express a necessity, equivalent to:
Students will need to make tough decisions after the final exams are
out.
Pullum in Correct/Incorrect Grammar-Test Items
I wish people would avoid using this sort of differential preference
in grammar-test items, testing for knowledge of a fictive
grammaticality distinction. If “Correct/Incorrect” test items are to
be used, the “Incorrect” choice better be genuinely incorrect.
See also Pullum in Grammar-Test Dispute Resolution.
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
The problem lies in the words "there's only one answer". Professor Pullum, co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has written of the problematic nature of exam questions which require a binary choice. [See below.]
In the present case, both answers are grammatical, although one is more probable than the other.
The construction "are to" has various possible uses. Swan in Practical English Usage (p80) lists 6 of these. Among them:
Usage 1: We use this structure in a formal style to talk about
official and other plans and arrangements.
- The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
- We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June. ...
Usage 5: The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
- You are to do your homework before watching TV. ...
Both of the above uses are conceivable in the present context. Much more likely, however, is the use of have to to express a necessity, equivalent to:
Students will need to make tough decisions after the final exams are
out.
Pullum in Correct/Incorrect Grammar-Test Items
I wish people would avoid using this sort of differential preference
in grammar-test items, testing for knowledge of a fictive
grammaticality distinction. If “Correct/Incorrect” test items are to
be used, the “Incorrect” choice better be genuinely incorrect.
See also Pullum in Grammar-Test Dispute Resolution.
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
add a comment |
up vote
1
down vote
up vote
1
down vote
The problem lies in the words "there's only one answer". Professor Pullum, co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has written of the problematic nature of exam questions which require a binary choice. [See below.]
In the present case, both answers are grammatical, although one is more probable than the other.
The construction "are to" has various possible uses. Swan in Practical English Usage (p80) lists 6 of these. Among them:
Usage 1: We use this structure in a formal style to talk about
official and other plans and arrangements.
- The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
- We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June. ...
Usage 5: The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
- You are to do your homework before watching TV. ...
Both of the above uses are conceivable in the present context. Much more likely, however, is the use of have to to express a necessity, equivalent to:
Students will need to make tough decisions after the final exams are
out.
Pullum in Correct/Incorrect Grammar-Test Items
I wish people would avoid using this sort of differential preference
in grammar-test items, testing for knowledge of a fictive
grammaticality distinction. If “Correct/Incorrect” test items are to
be used, the “Incorrect” choice better be genuinely incorrect.
See also Pullum in Grammar-Test Dispute Resolution.
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
The problem lies in the words "there's only one answer". Professor Pullum, co-author of The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, has written of the problematic nature of exam questions which require a binary choice. [See below.]
In the present case, both answers are grammatical, although one is more probable than the other.
The construction "are to" has various possible uses. Swan in Practical English Usage (p80) lists 6 of these. Among them:
Usage 1: We use this structure in a formal style to talk about
official and other plans and arrangements.
- The President is to visit Nigeria next month.
- We are to get a 10 per cent wage rise in June. ...
Usage 5: The structure is used to give orders, often by parents speaking to children.
- You are to do your homework before watching TV. ...
Both of the above uses are conceivable in the present context. Much more likely, however, is the use of have to to express a necessity, equivalent to:
Students will need to make tough decisions after the final exams are
out.
Pullum in Correct/Incorrect Grammar-Test Items
I wish people would avoid using this sort of differential preference
in grammar-test items, testing for knowledge of a fictive
grammaticality distinction. If “Correct/Incorrect” test items are to
be used, the “Incorrect” choice better be genuinely incorrect.
See also Pullum in Grammar-Test Dispute Resolution.
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
answered Aug 20 at 7:44
Shoe
24.7k43680
24.7k43680
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
add a comment |
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
It's not a grammar question, as you've already noted. Please see also my comment at OP.
– Kris
Aug 20 at 8:00
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
@Kris. Maybe the OP can tell us more about the test. But grammar or not, it is a a decontextualised binary choice question, and I thought site visitors might be interested in Pullum's view about such questions. As to where the question belongs (ELU, ELL, or Writing), I genuinely don't know.
– Shoe
Aug 20 at 8:06
add a comment |
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Exam-related questions are highly discouraged on English Stack Exchange. Please consider moving this post to ELL.
– VTH
Aug 20 at 5:05
Note the phrase "most suitably." See Writing
– Kris
Aug 20 at 7:59