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Obligation and Necessity (Modals)

The document discusses different modal verbs used to express obligation and necessity in English: 1. Must and must not express strong obligation or prohibition, while have to expresses obligation imposed by another. Need to expresses necessity. 2. Should and shouldn't give advice or express obligation. Be supposed to refers to what is expected by rules. Had better advises what is a good idea. 3. Past forms include had to instead of must, and examples are given for different uses of each modal in statements, questions, and negative forms.

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Muhammad Farhan
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1K views8 pages

Obligation and Necessity (Modals)

The document discusses different modal verbs used to express obligation and necessity in English: 1. Must and must not express strong obligation or prohibition, while have to expresses obligation imposed by another. Need to expresses necessity. 2. Should and shouldn't give advice or express obligation. Be supposed to refers to what is expected by rules. Had better advises what is a good idea. 3. Past forms include had to instead of must, and examples are given for different uses of each modal in statements, questions, and negative forms.

Uploaded by

Muhammad Farhan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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OBLIGATION AND

NECESSITY
(MODALS)
A. MUST / MUST NOT + VERB
Must is used:
1. For strong obligation imposed by the speaker. The speaker
uses must to express his/her authority.
• Ex: You must be here by 8 am. (Manager to employee)
2. To give strong advice.
• Ex: It’s a great film. You really must go and see it.
3. To tell oneself what is necessary.
• Ex: I must remember to phone Roger.
“Must not” is used:
4. To talk about something that is not permitted.
• Ex: Passengers must not smoke on the aircraft.
• Ex: You mustn’t drive without your seatbelt on in
Britain.
5. To give strong advice.
• Ex: You mustn’t work to hard. You’ll make
yourself ill.
Past form
Must does not have a past form. Had to is therefore used to
refer to the past.
• Ex: We had to write a formal letter in the exam.
Question form
Must is possible in question forms:
• Ex: Must you wear that horrible dress?
Although “have to” is more common:
• Ex: What do we have to do for homework?
B. HAVE TO / DON’T HAVE TO:

“Have to” is used to refer to strong obligations imposed by another


person rather than by the speaker or writer.
• Ex: I have to be at work by 8 o’clock. The boss will get angry if I’m
late. (employee to a friend)
“Don’t have to” expresses a lack of obligation.
• Ex: I’m glad I don’t have to wear a suit. It’s so hot today.
C. NEED TO / DON’T NEED TO / NEEDN’T

“Need to” is used to express necessity.


• Ex: Can we go to the baker’s next? I need to get some bread.
Don’t need to / needn’t express a lack of necessity.
• Ex: We don’t need to / needn’t leave yet. It’s only 2 o’clock.
D. SHOULD / SHOULDN’T + VERB

“Should” and “shouldn’t” are used to express obligation or


give advice.
“Ought to” can also be used with the same meaning as
should.
• Ex: You ought to/should see a doctor about your
backache.
• Ex: If you’re on a diet you shouldn’t drink bear.
E. BE SUPPOSED TO / HAD BETTER:

“Be supposed to” is used to talk about what you should do


because of a rule or because it is expected.
• Ex: Come on, its 10 o’clock. You’re supposed to be in bed.
“Had better + verb is used to talk about what you should do
because you think it’s a good idea.
• Ex: You’d better ask your dad before you borrow the car.

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