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The following test question appeared for turning regular sentences into questions without using 'wh- words':

The dog had to be taken to the vet because he had eaten a whole shoe.

The answer should be: Did the dog have to be taken to the vet because he had eaten a whole shoe?

However, many students mistook 'had' for an auxiliary verb, and turned the sentence into: Had the dog to be taken to the vet. (Switching the auxiliary verb and the subject.)

I have been trying to think of a way to explain this to them when we come to discussing it, but I'm having trouble picking apart the grammatical construction of 'had to be taken'.

It looks like the present perfect, but then why wouldn't the auxiliary rule work, and I am not sure how to place the 'to be'.

I feel like I should know what this is, but I can't figure it out.

me88
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  • Related: https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/446403/deontic-must-have-to-and-had-to ; look especially at Mari-Lou A's sources and the top answer. – TaliesinMerlin Feb 07 '19 at 14:19

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Auxiliary have partners with the past participle of the verb, not with the infinitive.

To be taken is the passive infinitive.

To take is the normal (active) infinitive.

My car had to be taken to the shop.

I had to take my car to the shop.

The subject changes but the verb have has the same meaning in the active and passive. It expresses the idea of a need or necessity, like must.

You have to get some sleep. You look really tired.

You have to drink water to stay alive.

The nature of the necessity is expressed in the infinitive clause, to get some sleep and to drink water (to stay alive).

TimR
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  • auxiliary have partners? – Lambie Feb 07 '19 at 15:23
  • @Lambie: What is it you don't understand about the verb partners? – TimR Feb 07 '19 at 19:00
  • /Auxiliary have partner/ must be some kind of typo. Why not fix it? – Lambie Feb 07 '19 at 19:02
  • /Auxiliary have partner/ is a reado not a typo – TimR Feb 07 '19 at 19:02
  • You've lost me, not that I was following to begin with. – TimR Feb 07 '19 at 19:14
  • I have no idea what it means. It is not English as far as I'm concerned. Auxiliary verbs or auxiliaries, but not a singular like that with "have partners". – Lambie Feb 07 '19 at 19:44
  • @Lambie: Are you reading this on a device that does not display words in bold by any chance? – TimR Feb 07 '19 at 19:48
  • You are trying to say: The auxiliary "have" partners with the past participle of the verb. Yes, I cannot see bold, but still it would be confusing. – Lambie Feb 07 '19 at 19:51
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    @Lambie lol, you need to fix the settings or system preferences of the smartphone/laptop/computer you're using. Now, I understand why you keep saying you cannot use bolding in your posts. Try here https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/307120/i-cannot-get-bold-or-italics-to-work – Mari-Lou A Feb 07 '19 at 22:36