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Must and Have
to - Necessity
Must and have to
are modal verbs often used to convey necessity.
- I have to go home now.
- I must arrive by 12.00.
Have to is
used for general necessity. For example:
- I have to finish this before 12.00.
(I have a general obligation to finish this
by 12.00)
Must is used for necessity which we feel
personally.
- I must finish this before 12.00. (I
have a sense of strong personal responsibility
to finish this.)
Must does
not have a past form, we have to use have
to for the past.
- I had to get up early this morning.
- I must got up early this morning. This
is incorrect.
Note that have
to inflects like a normal verb, it can have
different tenses and uses auxiliary verbs for
questions and negatives. For example:
- Do we have to go out tonight?
- You don't have to come with us.
Must doesn't
use auxiliary verbs or different tenses.
- Must we go out tonight? (This sounds
rather British, I really don't want to go out
tonight.)
- We mustn't forget the tickets. (No
auxiliary verb "to do", just add not.)
Negative Forms
Don't have to
means that something is not necessary, but possible.
- You don't have to come, but you can
if you want to.
- We don't have to leave today.
Must not is
strong and means that something is prohibited.
- You must not push the red button.
- We mustn't be late.
Must and have
to - Certainty
Must and have to
can also express certainty.
- This must be the ight way.
- This has to be the right way.
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Click below for exercises
using must and have to.
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