By Idioms, Auxiliaries

Have to is a semi-auxiliary (a modal idiom) and be is a bare infinitive object/verb complement.I have to go.Do you really have to?

Others : Had Better, be Supposed to, be Used to, be Accustomed to etc. others = modal idioms "Why we call semi-modals and others instead of saying all of them modal" because they are intermediate between auxiliaries and main verbs. I daren't jump -- You mustn't jump I do not...

Marius Hancu wrote:The idiom is dream come true I think this stems from an elision of "A dream (that is/has) come true"."To come" used to take "to be" as an auxiliary verb and still does when people are being dramatic:"Now I become death, the destroyer of worlds." ~ J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Thank you to all those who have posted their suggestions to my little imagination game. Some have taken it very seriously thinking they would have to relearn English after the 'changes'. This was meant to be just a game, not for those wo take everything seriously, and of course in this game...

Most grammars (at least the ones I have) list had better as a modal idiom, and offer no etymology. Fowler's Modern English Usage says:"The word had in this phrase is not the mere auxiliary of mood or tense, but a true verb meaning find: You had better do it = You would find to-do-it better."

To be bothered is an idiom (A speech form that is peculiar to itself within the usage of a given language. --- American Heritage Dictionary) and a negative polarity item. (See http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1534964 .) Grammatically, the sentence is in the passive voice, which...

Mister Micawber wrote:Under a cloud also means under suspicion.'Many well-known baseball stars have been under a cloud since the widespread use of steroids in the sport was revealed.''Since my wife saw me talking to that cute lady down the street, my every trip to the convenience store has been...

Hey, you forgot about all the other things "do" could stand for, like: do. abbreviation for ditto. .do abbreviation: Dominican Republic (in Internet addresses). n. Music The first tone of the diatonic scale in solfeggio. n. Slang pl. dos A hairdo. v. did, (dd) done, (dn) do·ing,...

I checked in a new book, "The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language", which is intended as a rival to Quirk. Following is an excerpt concerning "had better". I don't understand most of it, but presumably Pemmican & Miriam will. I was surprised to see that dropping the "had", as in, "You...