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Must

1. Must is used to express obligation, command, necessity, or strong advice in the present and near future. It can also express logical deductions or probabilities. 2. Have to and have got to are used when the obligation is external or imposed by someone other than the speaker. They are also used in other tenses besides the present. 3. Mustn't expresses prohibition, while needn't and don't have to express lack of necessity or obligation. Didn't need to refers to unnecessary past actions, while needn't have done refers to past actions that were unnecessary.

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61 views

Must

1. Must is used to express obligation, command, necessity, or strong advice in the present and near future. It can also express logical deductions or probabilities. 2. Have to and have got to are used when the obligation is external or imposed by someone other than the speaker. They are also used in other tenses besides the present. 3. Mustn't expresses prohibition, while needn't and don't have to express lack of necessity or obligation. Didn't need to refers to unnecessary past actions, while needn't have done refers to past actions that were unnecessary.

Uploaded by

Chiosa Adina
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MUST

It is used:

1. To express obligation, command, necessity.


Today is Monday, so my brother must go to school. (obligation)
You must dress properly to school. (command)
They must learn the new words if they want to get a good grade. (necessity)

Must expresses an obligation imposed by the speaker. But, when this obligation is
external, meaning it doesn't come from the speaker and it is imposed by external
authority and circumstances which the speaker cannot control, we use to have to:
I have to tell my children a story whenever they ask me to.

The negative form of must is must not/mustn't and it expresses prohibition:


You must not smoke in the gas stations.

The lack of obligation is never rendered by must not, but by don't have to, haven't
(got) to or needn't:
"Must we do this exercise?"
"Yes, you must./ No, you don't have to/haven't got to/needn't."

2. To express deduction, a logical conclusion, probability:


If she left home at 7 o'clock, she must be at the airport now. (deduction)
It is very cold; it must have snowed in the mountains.(a logical conclusion)
She must be at school now.(probability)

Must expressing probability in such sentences as:


She must be at school now.
can be replaced by:
I'm sure/certain/positive she is at school now.
Certainly/Obviously she is at school now.
It's likely/probable that she is at school now.
Probably she is at school now.
She is likely to be at school now.

For negative deductions we usual use can't:


They can't be the boy's grandparents.
She can't be at school now.

3. strong advice
You must behave yourself at school.
4. Must can only be used to talk about the present or the near future. We use have to
when we need to use other tenses.
present simple = must / have to
past simple = had to
present perfect = have / has had to
future simple = must / will have to

He had to work late yesterday, so he didn't go to the party.

MUST – HAVE TO/HAVE GOT TO

Must = it is necessary to do something

We use must when the speaker decides that something is necessary.

I must find a hotel to stay at tonight.

Have to = it is necessary to do something

We use have to when somebody else other than the speaker has made the decision.

I have to wear a uniform at school.

Questions and negations with have to are formed with do/does/did.

Do you have to wear a uniform at school?

Does she have to read that book?

Did you have to call your parents?

Must and have to have different meanings in questions.

Must I do my homework now?

Do I have to read this book now?

Have got to has the same meaning as have to and it is usually used in everyday speech.

I am sorry but I have got to go now. My bus leaves in 10 minutes.

MUSTN'T - NEEDN'T / DON'T HAVE TO

Mustn't = it is forbidden to do something/ you are not allowed to do something

We use mustn't to express prohibition.


They mustn't play on the railway track. (Playing on the railway track is forbidden.)

Needn't = it isn't necessary to do something

We use needn't to express the lack of necessity. We can also use don't/ doesn't need to or
don't / doesn't have to for the same purpose.

The farmer needn't / doesn't need to / doesn't have to buy any eggs because he has a lot of
hens.

DIDN'T NEED TO / NEEDN'T HAVE DONE

Didn't need to + short infinitive = it was not necessary to do something – it shows that an
action did not happen in the past because we knew it was not necessary.

They didn't need to cut any more flowers from the garden.

Needn't have + past participle = it was not necessary to do something, but it was done – it
shows that an action happened in the past, even though it was not necessary.

You needn't have brought me flowers.

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