Grammar ~21 min of the core left

Name the rules

After this lesson you can

I can say what is necessary, what is forbidden and what you don't need to do.

Start the lesson Core 19–21 min · steps: 6 · optional: +2

Declared core time. Two of the core blocks carry no figure at all, so the real lesson is longer than this sum.

Grammar

5 min

must and have to are both about necessity, but it comes from different places.

where it comes from example
must from the speaker: I decided so, I think it is important I must call my mother today.
have to from outside: a rule, a law, the situation I have to wear a uniform at work.

In conversation this difference is often lost, and have to wins: it always works. But one difference must never be lost:

mustn't and don't have to are NOT the same. They are opposites.

You mustn't smoke here. smoking here is forbidden. A ban.
You don't have to come tomorrow. coming tomorrow is not necessary. You may stay at home.

Forms. must is a modal verb: no -s, no do, and after it the basic form. have to is an ordinary verb: he has to, Do you have to…?, I don't have to.

He must go. / He has to go.
Do you have to work on Sunday?
I don't have to work.

must has no past form — we use had to: I had to work yesterday.

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Common learner errors

written for your language
1

mustn't for "not necessary"

✗ You mustn't come tomorrow meaning "you can stay at home" → ✓ You don't have to come tomorrow. German muss nicht, Swedish måste inte, Polish nie musisz and Czech nemusíš mean "not necessary", and must looks like their verb. But mustn't is a ban. The mistake turns the meaning into its opposite, so it costs more than the others.

2

must in the past

✗ Yesterday I must work late

✗ I musted work

✓ Yesterday I had to work late

German musste, Dutch moest and Swedish måste (the same word in the past) sound like must. But must has no past form: in the past it is always had to.

3

must with to

✗ I must to go

✓ I must go

have to has to, and must seems to need it too. It doesn't: must is like can — the basic form comes straight after it.

Pronunciation

3 min

In mustn't the t in the middle is silent: /ˈmʌsnt/. Two syllables, and the second one is only /snt/.

have to in connected speech is /ˈhæftə/, with the sound /f/. And has to is /ˈhæstə/. This is not careless speech but the norm: when you hear /aɪ ˈhæftə ɡəʊ/, you hear I have to go.

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Text

3 min

At my work we have to wear a uniform, and we have to be there at nine. You mustn't use your phone in the office — it's a rule. On Friday we don't have to stay until six. We can go home at four. Yesterday I had to work late because my colleague was ill.

Reading aloud

Exercises

8–10 min

1. Gap fill.

  1. You smoke here — it's forbidden
  2. You come tomorrow — it's Sunday
  3. Children play with matches
Show the answers
mustn't, don't have to, mustn't.

2. Gap fill.

  1. I call my mother today — I really want to
  2. She wear a uniform at work
  3. Yesterday I work late
Show the answers
must, has to, had to.

3. Error correction.

  1. I must to go.
  2. I musted work yesterday.
  3. You mustn't come tomorrow. (it isn't necessary)
Show the answers
I must go. / I had to work yesterday. / You don't have to come tomorrow.

4. Matching.

  1. You mustn't go.
  2. You don't have to go.
Show the answers
`You mustn't go.` — forbidden; `You don't have to go.` — not necessary.
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Summary

Covered

  • must and have to
  • a ban against no obligation
  • had to in the past

Next — lesson 11: advice and opinions.

End of the core

The lesson counts as done once the exercises are done. Everything after this is optional.

Lesson 47

optional

Vocabulary for your deck

12 words
  • rule /ruːl/ what people must or mustn't do in a place, a game or a job
  • uniform /ˈjuːnɪfɔːm/ the same special clothes that people wear at work or at school
  • forbidden /fəˈbɪdn/ not allowed
  • allowed /əˈlaʊd/ that you can do; not forbidden
  • smoke /sməʊk/ to have a cigarette
  • colleague /ˈkɒliːɡ/ a person you work with
  • office /ˈɒfɪs/ a room or building where people work at desks
  • late /leɪt/ near the end of the day; after the usual time
  • early /ˈɜːli/ near the start of the day; before the usual time
  • careful /ˈkeəfl/ thinking about what you do, so that nothing bad happens
  • important /ɪmˈpɔːtnt/ that matters a lot
  • necessary /ˈnesəsəri/ that you need; that has to be done

Writing

Four sentences about the rules at your work or place of study: what is necessary, what is forbidden, what you don't need to do.

Example

At my work we have to wear a uniform. We have to be there at nine. You mustn't use your phone in the office. On Friday we don't have to stay until six.

Checklist

The draft is saved on this device
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Practise this lesson in the other sections

Dictationbased on this lesson Write down what you hear. The check shows every word that differs, and how. Write the dictation Reading aloudbased on this lesson Read the lesson text aloud — speech recognition highlights the words it did not catch. Read the text aloud Reading and listeningA1–C1 Texts at every level with comprehension questions; the transcript opens after you answer. Try it

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