Haber de vs tener que

[Tyrn]

Hi,

What is the rule of thumb for using these expressions? It's pretty obvious that haber de is a rare bird; where is it appropriate/indispensable?

[poli]

I was taught that haber de is less imperative. I hear Spanish a lot, and rarely hear haber de used. By the way, hay que is pretty common, but when used it seems less didactic to me than than tener que.

[Tyrn]

Hay que is pretty common indeed. It looks like yet another take, though :)

Meanwhile, the only "real life" example of haber de I ever stumbled upon is this:

...
Y antes del amanecer la vida le han de quitar
...

I'm just trying to get the real taste of the words (life must be taken away?).

[Tomisimo]

Maybe not the most common, but I think I hear "Habías de <hacer algo>" with relative frequency.