Must and have to

General comments

The verbs must and have to have very similar meanings. Both are used to talk about
things that we have an obligation to do, or things that we are sure about. But there are
certain differences between the two verbs. In particular, must, as a modal verb, has only
one form, and it is used only in the present tense. Whenever you need to use another
tense, or an infinitive form, have to is your only choice. So, for example, must is possible
only in the first of these three sentences:

Present: I must / have to go home now.
Infinitive: I hate to have to go home now.
Past: I had to go home then.

1. Obligation and necessity: present tense

Must and have (got) to* are both used to talk about obligation and necessity:
Employees must / have (got) to wash their hands before returning to the kitchen.
I must / have (got) to remember to call her after work.
Both verbs are used in the same way in this context, although there is a slight difference
between US and British usage. In US usage, have (got) to is used much more frequently
than must. For details on British usage, and for talking about obligation and necessity in
other tenses, see the opposite page.

2. Certainty: present tense

Must and have (got) to* are also commonly used to talk about certainty:
This must / has (got) to be the worst job in the whole company.
That must / has (got) to be the stupidest idea Ive ever heard.
I
n US usage, one usually hears have (got) to in this context. In British English, must is far
more common. For talking about certainty in other tenses, see the next page.

*Note that in the present tense, the affirmative forms of have to and have got to are
interchangeable.

3. Negative forms

The negative forms must not and do not have to have totally different meanings.
The negative form must not is used to forbid people to do something:
You mustnt tell anyone I told you! I would be in big trouble if anyone found out.
You mustnt talk that way to a client. Its bad for business.
I mustnt forget to call them.

In contrast, dont have to is used to express that it is not necessary for something to be
done:
Oh, you dont have to clean up. Ill do that.
I dont have to stay if I dont want to.

Note that the Spanish translation of you dont have to is no tienes que/no es necesario
(que lo hagas). You must not should be translated as no debes/deberias.
Advanced usage

Obligation and necessity: present tense (British usage)

British speakers often use must when talking about their own feelings about what is
necessary. On the other hand, they often use have (got) to to talk about other peoples
opinions of what has to be done:
I must listen to her speech!
Necesito escuchar su discurso!
Ive got to listen to her speech. Bosss orders.
Tengo que escuchar su discurso. Ordenes del jefe.

Obligation and necessity: other tenses

When talking about obligation and necessity in the past, we use the form had to. There is
no past-tense form of must:
I had to call her after work.
She had to finish up her project last night.

When talking about an obligation in the future, will have to is used. When talking about
the near future and arrangements that have already been made, have (got) to is preferred:
Youll have to look for a new job when the boss leaves.
Ive got to go to a job interview next week.

For orders and explicit instructions on what to do in the future, use must. To make the
statement more indirect, use will have to:
Ill lend it to you, but you must bring it back tomorrow.
Ill lend it to you, but youll have to bring it back tomorrow.

Certainty: other tenses

To express certainty about the past, use must have + past participle:
Shes not there. She must have left already.
He was really red in the face. He must have been very angry.

Neither must nor will have to is used to express certainty about the future. Use the
future tense with certainly or definitely instead:
This will definitely be our last attempt.

This will certainly not be repeated.