Scribd
Upload
139 views8 pages

Must vs. Have To: Use of Must Not

The document discusses the differences between the modal verbs "must" and "have to". - Must expresses subjective obligation or necessity based on the speaker's opinion, while have to expresses objective obligation from an external source. - Must is used for specific obligations, while have to is used for general obligations. - Have to is used in all tenses to talk about obligation in the past, present and future, while must is not used to talk about the past. - Mustn't expresses prohibition, while don't have to expresses the absence of obligation.

Uploaded by

Ruxandra Plesea
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
139 views8 pages

Must vs. Have To: Use of Must Not

The document discusses the differences between the modal verbs "must" and "have to". - Must expresses subjective obligation or necessity based on the speaker's opinion, while have to expresses objective obligation from an external source. - Must is used for specific obligations, while have to is used for general obligations. - Have to is used in all tenses to talk about obligation in the past, present and future, while must is not used to talk about the past. - Mustn't expresses prohibition, while don't have to expresses the absence of obligation.

Uploaded by

Ruxandra Plesea
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 8

Must vs.

have to

Both Must and have to express obligation or necessity, but there are some small


differences:

•  Must expresses the speaker's feelings, whereas have to expresses, above all,


an impersonal idea:
You must come. You are obliged to come (I require that you come)
You have to come. You are obliged to come. (There's a rule requiring you to
come)
Must I wear this tie? Am I obliged to wear this tie? (What do you think?)
Do I have to wear this tie? Am I obliged to wear this tie? (Is there a rule about
ties?)
•  Have to mainly expresses general obligations, while must is used for specific
obligations:
I have to brush my teeth twice a day.
I must tell you something.
Important: To express obligation, duty or necessity in the future or the
past, must and need are not used. They are replaced by have to:
We must (need to) buy another ticket.
We had to buy another ticket yesterday.
We'll have to buy another ticket later.
However, in their negative forms, mustn't and don't have to have completely
different meanings:

•  Mustn't expresses prohibition
You mustn't drive. You are prohibited to drive. You are not allowed to drive.
•  Don't have to expresses the absence of obligation or necessity:
You don't have to drive. You are not obliged to drive (but you can if you want
to).

Use of must not


Must not expresses prohibition - something that is not permitted, not
allowed. The prohibition can be subjective (the speaker's opinion) or
objective (a real law or rule). Look at these examples:

 I mustn't eat so much sugar. (subjective)


 You mustn't watch so much television. (subjective)
 Students must not leave bicycles here. (objective)
 Policemen must not drink on duty. (objective)

We can use must not to talk about the present or the future:

 Visitors must not smoke. (present)


 I mustn't forget Tara's birthday. (future)

We cannot use must not to talk about the past. We use other


structures to talk about the past, for example:

 We were not allowed to enter.


 I couldn't park outside the shop.
must not games for future prohibition

Structure of must not


Must is an auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb.

The basic structure for must not is:

subject + must not + main verb

The main verb is the base verb.

We often contract must not to mustn't.

Look at these examples:

subject auxiliary main verb


must + not
I mustn't forget my keys.

You mustn't disturb him.

Students must not be late.

NB: like all auxiliary verbs, must CANNOT be followed by to. So, we


say:

 You mustn't arrive late.
not You mustn't to arrive late.

must for subjective obligation

We often use must to say that something is essential or necessary, for


example:

 I must go.

Structure of must
Must is a modal auxiliary verb. It is followed by a main verb.

The basic structure for must is:

subject + auxiliary verb + main verb


must base

The main verb is always the same form: base


Look at these examples:

subject auxiliary verb main verb


must base

I must go home.

You must visit us.

We must stop now.

Like all auxiliary verbs, must cannot be followed by to. So, we say:


 I must go now.
not I must to go now.

Use of must
In general, must expresses personal obligation. Must expresses what
the speaker thinks is necessary. Must is subjective. Look at these
examples:

 I must stop smoking.
 You must visit us soon.
 He must work harder.

In each of the above cases, the "obligation" is the opinion or idea of the
person speaking. In fact, it is not a real obligation. It is not imposed from
outside.

It is sometimes possible to use must for real obligation, for example a


rule or a law. But generally we use have to for this.

We can use must to talk about the present or the future. Look at these


examples:
 I must go now. (present)
 I must call my mother tomorrow. (future)

We cannot use must to talk about the past. We use have to to talk


about the past.

have to for objective obligation

We often use have to to say that something is obligatory, for example:

 Children have to go to school.


Note that we can use the have to expression in all tenses, for
example: he has to, he had to, he has had to, he will have to

Structure of have to
Have to is often grouped with modal auxiliary verbs for convenience,
but in fact it is not a modal verb. It is not even an auxiliary verb. In
the have to structure, "have" is a main verb.

The basic structure for have to is:

subject + auxiliary verb + have + to-infinitive

Look at these examples in the Present Simple tense:

subject auxiliary verb main verb to-infinitive


have

+ She has to work.  


- I do not have to see the doctor.

? Do you have to go to school?

Use of have to
In general, have to expresses impersonal obligation. The subject
of have to is obliged or forced to act by a separate, external power (for
example, the Law or school rules). Have to is objective. Look at these
examples:

 In France, you have to drive on the right.


 In England, most schoolchildren have to wear a uniform.
 John has to wear a tie at work.

In each of the above cases, the obligation is not the subject's opinion or
idea. The obligation comes from outside.

We can use have to in all tenses, and also with modal auxiliaries. We


conjugate it just like any other main verb. Here are some examples:

What is the difference between MUST and HAVE TO?


MUST and HAVE TO are both used to express an obligation, responsibility or necessity.
While Must can generally be replaced by Have to in the present tense, there is sometimes a
slight difference in meaning or use.
Let’s look at our previous example using MUST:
 I must write a letter to John.
We generally use must when the speaker decides that something is necessary, or needs to
be done.
In this case I have decided that I need to write a letter to John. Nobody else has told me to
write it. I think it is necessary.
The other example with HAVE TO.
 I have to write a letter to John.
We use have to when somebody else other than the speaker has made the decision.
So here, I didn’t decide to write a letter. Somebody else has told me to write it, somebody
else told me it was necessary to do.
Let’s look at some more examples:
 I must book a hotel for my trip next week.
Here I am reminding myself that it is necessary to do. I have decided that it is necessary.
 We have to wear a uniform at work.
Our boss makes us wear a uniform. It is an obligation that our boss has decided that is
necessary. I, the speaker, am not making this obligation, someone else is.
Compare the following sentences:
 The Teacher says: You must complete the essay by Friday
 The Student says: We have to complete the essay by Friday.
The teacher has used MUST because he or has is giving the students an obligation.
Since the teacher has given us the obligation, we use have to. This is because somebody
else, in this case the teacher, has told us what needs to be done.
When we mention someone else’s obligation, then we use the correct conjugation of Have
to.
For example:
 Mike can’t come because he has to work tomorrow.
It is Mike’s obligation to fulfill his work commitments.
 Susan and Steve have to pay their rent every Friday.
They both have the obligation to pay their rent on that day.
In both examples you would not use MUST because we are talking about someone else’s
obligations.

'may' and 'might'

We use may:

 when we are not sure about something in the present or future:

Jack  may be coming to see us tomorrow.


               (= Perhaps Jack will come to see us tomorrow.)
Oh dear! It's half past ten. We may be late for the meeting.
               (= Perhaps we will be late for the meeting.)
She's had no sleep. She may be tired.
               (= Perhaps she is tired.)

 to ask for permission in a formal way:

May I borrow  the car tomorrow?


May we come a bit later?
 to give permission in a formal way:

You  may go  now.


You  may come  at eleven if you wish.

 to say that someone has permission in a formal way:

Students may travel for free.

We can use may not to refuse permission or to say that someone does not have


permission, but it is formal and emphatic:

You  may not  borrow the car until you can be more careful with it!
Students may not wear jeans.

We use  might when we are not sure about something in


the present or future:
I might see you tomorrow.
It looks nice, but it might be very expensive.
It's quite bright. It might not rain today.

DefaultOne Question Per Page false false The house isn't hard to find. It's the red one at
the end. You _____ miss it! 3What an amazing trip! You _____ have some incredible
photos. 1That _____ be the vegetarian option. It's got chicken in it. 3Have you got your
passport? I'm not sure if you'll need it but they _____ ask you for ID. 2Who left their
laptop on my desk? It _____ be Mel's – she's working at home today. 3Samira has flu.
We don't know yet but she _____ need to take the whole week off. 3Your watch says a
different time from mine. One of them _____ be wrong. 1Look at that bird! Maybe it's an
eagle or it _____ be a vulture. 2https://339efcb25eb75e967b0d-
ff8eeadd950d51fd1fc939dca75b3973.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/assets_default.swf

You might also like