Must & Have To
HAVE TO
We often use have to to say that something is obligatory, for example:
- Children have to go to school.
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 have |
to-infinitive | ||
| + | She | has | to work. | ||
| – | I | do not | have | to see | the doctor. |
| ? | Did | 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 tois 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:
| subject | auxiliary verb | main verb have |
to-infinitive | ||
| Past Simple | I | had | to work | yesterday. | |
| Present Simple | I | have | to work | today. | |
| Future Simple | I | will | have | to work | tomorrow. |
| Present Continuous | She | is | having | to wait. | |
| Present Perfect | We | have | had | to change | the time. |
| modal may | They | may | have | to do | it again. |
MUST
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 must |
+ | main verb base |
The main verb is always the same form: base
Look at these examples:
| subject | auxiliary verb must |
main verb 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.
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