Must and Have to for beginners
'Have to' and 'must' have the same meaning and are used to express obligations. However, they are used in different situations and are not interchangeable.
The Modal Verb Must
We use 'must' to talk about rules and obligations in the present.
Structure
Typically, the base form of the verb is used after 'must'.
Negation
The negative form of must is 'must not' or 'mustn’t'. But keep in mind that in modern everyday English, 'mustn't' and 'must not' are not commonly used.
You
They
These sentences are both rather formal and we normally use 'shouldn't' or 'should not' instead.
Warning
Do not use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with 'must.'
Comments
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Will and Would
These two modals are often confusing for learners, because they are used in quite similar situations. But they're different.
Shall and Should
'Shall' and 'Should' are like relatives, because 'Should' is the past tense of 'Shall', but they have different functions despite their similarities.
Semi-modals
Semi-modals are the subcategory of modal verbs. So it is good to learn the difference between modal verbs and semi-modal verbs to use them properly.
