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I am conveying the work status that I witnessed to my boss. I have doubt in below sentence

"SS top and trolley wheels are to be attached" or "SS top and trolley wheels has to be attached"

I am actually having a problem in visualizing the has, have in the sentence. I just seeing and using them based on the grammar, rule but I could not actually visualize the sentence. is there some technique or something should I practice to remember?

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  • wheels are plural, so your second version would need to be have to be attached. In practice, for a "work status" report most people wouldn't bother including a "finite, tensed, inflected" verb (are/have) at all. Other than that, I personally would say are is more likely when describing current status (awaiting "attachment"), whereas have works a bit better if you're telling someone what they have to do [next] within an ongoing / incomplete process. But approximately, they're just equivalent ways of saying the same thing.
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 29, 2018 at 16:49
  • Note that I am to retire at the end of the year simply means that's will happen / is expected to happen. But I have to retire at the end of the year implies I must retire then, I have no choice (usually with the strong implication that if I did have a choice, I wouldn't). In short, using have to often implies necessity / obligation.
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 29, 2018 at 16:53
  • @FumbleFingers, Thank you. I can use them correctly from now. I got the clue to visualize.
    – Aayvu.com
    Jan 29, 2018 at 16:56
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    Note that in spoken English, the "phrasal verb" to have to [do something] = to be obliged to do it is often pronounced differently, which clearly reflects the idiomatic meaning (I have to go now, He has to marry her now are often pronounced haff, hass).
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 29, 2018 at 17:08
  • @FumbleFingers I came across one statement in my email "Your balance is exhausted, So your ads have stopped running.", If I write the same thing, I would write "Your balance is exhausted, so your ads stopped running." Probably both mean same. but I am not matching with the native. Whats your comment on this?
    – Aayvu.com
    Jan 30, 2018 at 11:58

1 Answer 1

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If there is only one thing to attach, use has:

The top has to be attached.

If it is more than one thing, use have:

The SS top and wheels have to be attached.

If you think have sounds a little awkward there, you could use the verb need instead:

The SS top and wheels need to be attached.

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  • Thank you. I got the point. Now I got the confident on how to use.
    – Aayvu.com
    Jan 29, 2018 at 16:57
  • I came across one statement in my email "Your balance is exhausted, So your ads have stopped running.", If I write the same thing, I would write "Your balance is exhausted, so your ads stopped running." Probably both mean same. but I am not matching with the native. Whats your comment on this?
    – Aayvu.com
    Jan 30, 2018 at 11:59
  • @Aayvu.com - They effectively mean the same thing. I quit dancing. I have quit dancing. I started a diet. I have started a diet. I chopped the onions. I have chopped the onions. There really isn't much difference in meaning when the sentences are so simple. It's when certain time markers are added that the tense can become more important. I washed the car yesterday. (Not: I have driven the car yesterday.) I have played goalie before, but it's been a long time since I was in net.
    – J.R. ♦
    Jan 30, 2018 at 15:32

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