Meaning distinction

Question

Tell me the difference between the two sentences.

She is to swim twice a week.

She has to swim twice a week.

Thanks in advance.

I want to know if it is possible to use "be to" as a habitual obligation "You are to call her" meaning it is my regular duty/obligation to call her or I have to call her every day.

To *have to* (usually pronounced HAFF, or HASS in your example) strongly implies *obligation. But if someone/something is to [do something, or happen]*, that may just be a "prediction" or "scheduled activity", with no particularly strong allusions to "necessity" (but it's formal/dated phrasing). — FumbleFingers, Jan 10 '20 at 16:48
I don't know *what* you mean! As per my first comment, the actual words in your two examples would normally carry different implications, and the narture of those differences is fully covered by comments / answers both here and in the earlier duplicate I linked to above. There are several more ELL questions about the same thing - have a look at Difference between “I have got to study on weekends” and “I have to study on weekends”. — FumbleFingers, Jan 10 '20 at 17:18

Chris Mack · Answer 1 · 2020-01-10T16:54:38.930

0

She has to swim twice a week.

This means that she must swim twice a week, or has some kind of obligation to swim twice a week, or that someone or something is mandating her to swim twice a week (it could be her health, her sports coach, a commitment to a personal goal, etc. - this would be determined by the context).

She is to swim twice a week.

This is quite a formal way of speaking, and could mean that there are plans for her to swim twice a week, i.e. it's part of a schedule or is anticipated/expected (again, the context would likely provide more information).

edited Jan 10 '20 at 16:54

answered Jan 10 '20 at 16:46

Chris Mack

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can the first sentence be a habitual obligation? It is an obligation for her to swim twice a week. – Hunter Jan 10 '20 at 17:04
It would almost certainly be a habitual obligation, being done twice per week, every week (within some set duration). – Chris Mack Jan 10 '20 at 17:08
Your previous comment does not say it is an obligation. It says that it is an schedule as in "The prime minister is to visit London". – Hunter Jan 10 '20 at 17:12
Did you explain it in two different angles. This is, you have included both schedule and obligation? – Hunter Jan 10 '20 at 17:16
Sorry, I had reversed the quotes in my answer. "Is to" could be an obligation, for example, if someone is reiterating something that a sports coach or doctor, etc. had said - it is an obligation, but the person may say it as, "She is to swim twice a week." Again, this is quite formal and perhaps a bit dated, and more often you would hear "has to" or perhaps "needs to" in those scenarios. – Chris Mack Jan 10 '20 at 17:21
Now I got the answer. Thanks for your help. – Hunter Jan 10 '20 at 17:25
No problem - please mark the answer as correct if it is so. – Chris Mack Jan 10 '20 at 17:48

Meaning distinction

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