| Element | USE: 'BE OBLIGED TO', OBLIGATION |
|---|---|
| SuperCat | MODALITY |
| SubCat | expressions with be |
| Lexical Range | N/A |
| Level | B2 |
| Cando | Can use 'be obliged to' to talk about an external obligation, especially in institutional contexts. |
| Corrected Learner Example | The Sales Representatives are obliged to participate. (Switzerland; B2 VANTAGE; 2005; German; Pass) By January 2 everybody is obliged to have a parking permit when using the company car park. (German, B2 VANTAGE, Pass, 2001) They were obliged to give up their house. (France; B2 VANTAGE; 1993; French; Pass) |
| Uncorrected Learner Example | The Sales Representatives are obliged to participate. (Switzerland; B2 VANTAGE; 2005; German; Pass) By January 2 everybody is obliged to have a parking permit when using the company car park. (German, B2 VANTAGE, Pass, 2001) They were obliged to give up their house. (France; B2 VANTAGE; 1993; French; Pass) |
| Comments | There are a lot of instances of 'be obliged to' where the grammatical structure is correct but is being used incorrectly to talk about a self-imposed obligation, e.g. 'I am obliged to admit having already caught a cold'. 'Not obliged to' doesn't appear until C1, probably due to lack of opportunity of use - 'We are not obliged to stay in the office waiting for calls'. (SfLL2; C1; Arabic) |
