MUST

a) EPISTEMIC: rational laws/circumstance > logical consequence; it points out knowledge

derived from INFERENCE or REASONING [PROBABILITY] rather than from
experience: e.g. There must be some mistake.
!!! MUST seldom occurs with future time reference as the future time reference is open to a
deontic interpretation such as: He must come tomorrow. (obligation)
“He must propose tomorrow”, said she. (what the speaker thinks will happen,
therefore epistemic, but still ambiguous)

BE BOUND TO – non-modal expression with an epistemic interpretation that runs

parallel with modal MUST. It points out future reference (It’s bound to happen) when
used with EVENTS.
COMPARE: (1) John is bound to be in his office. (when we question if John is in the
office; it’s certain)
(2) John must be in his office. (the speaker is drawing the most obvious
conclusion)
- can be modified by ALMOST, whereas MUST cannot:
What’s almost bound to happen is, I shall leave Bucharest at 2 o’clock.
*What almost must happen is……….
- + future reference = it is inevitable that

In British English – difference between MUST and HAVE TO:

A. You must be mad to do that. (epistemic; being mad is a necessary
condition to act
in a specific way)
You have to be mad to do that. (deontic; only mad people do that)
B. Someone must be telling lies. (mere suspicion)
Someone has (got) to be telling lies. (ACCUSATION)

Past Time Reference

- the epistemic MUST – generally in the present tense; the situation indicated in the
sentence can be past - + PERFECT INFINITIVE:
e.g. He must have done that.
He is bound to have been there.

Future time reference

In this situation, BE BOUND TO is preferred.

!!! MUST is negated by CAN’T. It rarely occurs in interrogative sentences.

b) DEONTIC: OBLIGATION (must is thus subject-oriented, the speaker is in a position

of authority, the same as in the case of permission MAY)
You must be back at 10 o’clock.
I must go now, or I’ll be late.
He must do as he is bid.
Contextually - deontic MUST can be used to politely insist in matters in which the person
addressed is the
beneficiary from the action: You must say what you want for a present.//You
must come round and see it.
- can be used a firm piece of advice, almost an imperative: You must keep
everything to yourself.
MUST – used with a limited number of verbs related to the act of conversation: say, admit, ask,
be honest, confess, mention and remember, understand, realize, admit.

HAVE (GOT) TO
- synonym of deontic MUST indicating an exterior compulsion; it is external-oriented
e.g. I’ve got to be to the airport at 6 o’clock.
You have to file a complaint if you want to solve the problem.
HAVE TO – more formal; HAVE GOT TO – colloquial, used in spoken
language
- it has finite forms - no finite forms
MUST vs. HAVE (GOT) TO

a) both can be interchangeable when the deontic source is NEUTRAL:

e.g. You must have an immigrant’s visa.
I’ve really got to know when the completion date is ready.
b) in the present tense, HAVE TO & HAVE GOT TO imply ACTUALITY vs. MUST
It’s crowded. He’s got to fight his way through the crowd. (he is, at present, doing so)
must (future reference)

MUSTN’T – negates the event, obligation to act: We mustn’t worry too much about this.
To negate the modal for necessity, we use NEEDN’T: You needn’t answer this question.
To negate obligation: don’t have to

Past Time Reference & Future Time Reference

- with “have to”; in reported speech, the difference of interpretation between MUST and
HAVE (GOT)
TO is retained and MUST is retained as such:
e.g. She said she must go.
She said she had to go.

You must open the door. (command issued by the speaker)

John says you must open the door. (reporting someone else’s command)