English Grammar Today: Must: Forms

Must
from English Grammar Today

Must: forms
Affirmative (+) form
Must comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb):
She must have lots of friends.
Must can’t be used with another modal verb.
This must be your sister.
Not: This must can be your sister. or This can must be your sister.
Negative (−) form
The negative form of must is mustn’t. We don’t use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with must:
There mustn’t be any rubbish left.
Not: There dosen’t must be any rubbish left.
We can use the full form must not in formal contexts or when we want to
emphasise something:
You must not leave any rubbish.
See also:
 Modal verbs
Question (?) form
Warning:
The subject and must change position to form questions. We don’t
use do/does/did:
Must you make that noise?
Not: Do you must make that noise?

We can use must and mustn’t in question tags though tags with must aren’t very
common:
The house must be worth millions, mustn’t it?
Must: uses
Deductions and conclusions
When we think carefully about facts, we often use must to express deductions

and conclusions from these:
[fact]He’s so small. [deduction/conclusion] He must be no more than four years old.
[Two teachers talking about a student]
A:
He falls asleep in class every morning. (fact)
B:
He must be out late every night or maybe he works at night.
(deduction/conclusion)
Warning:
We use can’t/cannot as the negative of must to deny something or make negative
deductions or conclusions:
It just can’t be true. He can’t have left his job.
That cannot be his sister. She looks so different.
See also:
 Can
Warning:
We use must have + ed form and can’t have + ed form to talk about deductions in
the past. They always refer to deduction, not obligation:
[A wanted to talk to B so she phoned him but he didn’t answer the phone. She
phoned again the next day]
A:
I called you yesterday around three o’clock but you must have beenout.
B:
We must have been in the garden. That’s a pity.
[A is telling B about his illness]
A:
I spent a month in hospital before I was able to walk.
B:
That can’t have been easy for you.
Spoken English:
In speaking, we very often express our reaction to what we hear using phrases
such as that must be or that must have been:
A:
She lives in Thailand now.
B:
That must be amazing!
A:
Twelve years ago Kevin and I went on a six-week camping trip.
B:
That must have been fun.
Obligation and necessity
Must expresses strong obligation and necessity:
I must talk to you about the new project.
Seat belts must be worn even in the back of the car.
There must be a minimum of two members of the company at the meeting.
Warning:
We use had to not must to expresses obligation and necessity in the past:
By the time we got back to our bikes, it was dark and we had to cycle home in
the dark without any lights …
Not: … it was dark and we must cycle home in the dark …
Last year, teachers had to make a report on each child every week.
Not: Last year, teachers must make a report …
We use must to talk about the future in the past when we report speech or
people’s thoughts in formal contexts:
[Extract from a novel]
The pain was back in full force, but she knew she must not give in to it.
She mustgo on day by day.
We use will have to more than must to express future obligation, especially when

talking about obligations at a particular point in the future:
He’ll have to wait five weeks for his eye operation. Then he’ll have to have both
eyes operated on.
We often use must with more general references to the future, particularly when

talking about obligations that come from the speaker:
The Prime Minister must decide in the next month.
I must try harder next time.
I must pop round one evening next week.
When we talk about no obligation, we use either need not, don’t/doesn’t/didn’t

have toor the negative of the main verb need (don’t/doesn’t need):
You needn’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.
You don’t have to worry about it. I’ll take care of it.
You don’t need to worry about it. I’ll take care of it.
Rules and laws

We use must not to talk about what is not permitted:
You must not park outside the entrance.
You must not make noise after 9 o’clock.
Must and must not often occur in public signs and notices indicating laws, rules
and prohibitions:
[airline website information]
All passengers must present valid photo identification at check-in for all flights.
[bus company website notice]
Tickets must be retained for inspection, and must be produced for inspection
on request by any authorised official of Bus Éireann. (Bus Éireann is the name of
the Irish national bus company)
See also:
 Commands and instructions
Invitations and encouragement
We also use must to express polite invitations or encouragement:
You must come and see us soon.
You must try some of this chocolate cake. It’s delicious.
You must go and see that film.
See also:
 Invitations
Criticisms
We use the question form of must in criticisms:
Must you keep playing that terrible music?
Why must you mispronounce my name every time?
Must and have (got) to?
Obligations
We usually use must to talk about obligations which come from the speaker and
we generally use have (got) to when we refer to obligations that come from
outside the speaker.
Compare
The obligation is from me

I must buy some new clothes. Mine look so old.
to buy new clothes.
I’ve got to buy some new clothes. I’m starting a

The obligation is from the
new job as a teacher and we have to wear formal
school to buy new clothes.
clothes.
Warning:
Must not and don’t have to/haven’t got to have different meanings.
Compare
You must not give my credit

card details to anyone. We use mustn’t to talk about something which
You mustn’t tell this to anyone. is forbidden.
It’s a secret.
You don’t have to tell anyone. I

will email everyone. We use don’t have to/haven’t got to when
We haven’t got towear a something is not necessary. It is not forbidden.
uniform to work.
Don’t have to can sometimes be used to criticise someone or to tell them not to
do something. This is less direct than must not:
You don’t have to drink all of the juice! (stop drinking the juice!)
Deductions
We can also use have got to when we make deductions or draw
conclusions. Must is more common than have (got) to in this meaning:
That must be a fake!
That picture has got to be a fake!
See also:
 Have got to and have to
Must: typical errors
 We don’t use must to expresses obligation and necessity in the past. We

use had toinstead:
When she got home, she had to cook dinner before everyone arrived.
Not: When she got home, she must cook dinner before …
 We don’t use must to make predictions about the future. We

use will instead:
Don’t worry about our accommodation because I found a nice hotel which will be
suitable for us.
Not: Don’t worry about our accommodation because I found a nice hotel which
must be suitable for us.
See also:
 Will
(“Must” from English Grammar Today © Cambridge University Press.)

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Must

from English Grammar Today

She must have lots of friends.

Must can’t be used with another modal verb.

This must be your sister.

Negative (−) form

The negative form of must is mustn’t. We don’t use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with must:

There mustn’t be any rubbish left.

Not: There dosen’t must be any rubbish left.

You must not leave any rubbish.

Must you make that noise?

Not: Do you must make that noise?

The house must be worth millions, mustn’t it?

When we think carefully about facts, we often use must to express deductions

[Two teachers talking about a student]

It just can’t be true. He can’t have left his job.

That cannot be his sister. She looks so different.

[A is telling B about his illness]

Must expresses strong obligation and necessity:

I must talk to you about the new project.

Seat belts must be worn even in the back of the car.

There must be a minimum of two members of the company at the meeting.

Not: Last year, teachers must make a report …

[Extract from a novel]

We use will have to more than must to express future obligation, especially when

We often use must with more general references to the future, particularly when

The Prime Minister must decide in the next month.

I must try harder next time.

I must pop round one evening next week.

When we talk about no obligation, we use either need not, don’t/doesn’t/didn’t

You needn’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.

Rules and laws

You must not park outside the entrance.

You must not make noise after 9 o’clock.

[airline website information]

[bus company website notice]

We also use must to express polite invitations or encouragement:

You must come and see us soon.

You must try some of this chocolate cake. It’s delicious.

You must go and see that film.

We use the question form of must in criticisms:

Must you keep playing that terrible music?

Why must you mispronounce my name every time?

The obligation is from me

I’ve got to buy some new clothes. I’m starting a

You must not give my credit

You don’t have to tell anyone. I

That must be a fake!

That picture has got to be a fake!

 We don’t use must to expresses obligation and necessity in the past. We

Not: When she got home, she must cook dinner before …

 We don’t use must to make predictions about the future. We

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