Must and Have to

What's the difference between must and have to?

Must and have to are modal verbs in English. This page will guide you to the proper use of these modals.

Must

1. We use must to make a logical deduction based on evidence. It indicates that the speaker is certain about something:
Examples:

• It has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
• The weather is fantastic in California. It must a lot fun to live there.

2. Must is also used to express a strong obligation.
Examples:

• Students must arrive in class on time.
• You must stop when the traffic lights are red.
• I must go to bed.

Modals in the Present and Past

Modals in the present and past

Generally speaking modals in the past have the following form:

• modal + have + past participle

Example:

• Present:
  You should see a doctor.
• Past:
  You should have seen a doctor

Except for modals that express obligation,ability and lack of necessity:

• Obligation:
  Present = I must / have to work hard. -- Past = I had to work hard.
• Ability:
  Present = I can run fast. -- Past = I could run fast when I was young.
• Lack of necessity:
  Present = You don't have to / needn't take your umbrella. -- Past = You didn't have to / didn't need to take your umbrella.

Modal verbs and their meaning

What are modal verbs?

Modals (also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal auxiliaries) are special verbs which behave irregularly in English. They are different from normal verbs like "work, play, visit..." They give additional information about the function of the main verb that follows it. They have a great variety of communicative functions.
Here are some characteristics of modal verbs:

• They never change their form. You can't add "s", "ed", "ing"...
• They are always followed by an infinitive without "to" (e.i. the bare infinitive.)
• They are used to indicate modality allow speakers to express certainty, possibility, willingness, obligation, necessity, ability

List of modal verbs

Here is a list of modal verbs:

can, could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must

The verbs or expressions dare, ought to, had better, and need not behave like modal auxiliaries to a large extent and my be added to the above list

Use of modal verbs:

Modal verbs are used to express functions such as:

1. Permission
2. Ability
3. Obligation
4. Prohibition
5. Lack of necessity
6. Advice
7. possibility
8. probability

Interjections

What are interjections?

In grammar, an interjection is a part of speech or (a lexical category) which is used to show a short sudden expression of emotion. Examples of common interjections in English are hi and hey.

Using interjections

Interjections are rarely used in academic or formal writing. They are, however, common in fiction or artistic writing.
Interjections are often used with exclamation mark.

Examples of interjections

This is a list of some English interjections:

• Ah - Ah, what a delicious meal!
• Aha - Aha, now I see what you mean!
• Alas - I love football but, alas, I have no talent as a player.
• Eh - Eh? Say it again - I wasn't listening.
• Er - "Is he handsome?" " Er, well - he's got a nice friendly sort of face though he's not exactly handsome."
• Hello - Hello, Paul. I haven't seen you for ages.
• Hey - Hey! What are you doing with my car?
• Hi - Hi, there!
• Hmm - "He says he's doing it for our benefit." " Hmm, I'm still not convinced."
• Oh - Is that for me? Oh, you're so kind!
• Well - Well, what shall we do now?

Conjunctions

What are conjunctions?

A conjunction is a part of speech that joins two words, phrases or clauses together.
There are three types of conjunctions:

Coordinating Conjunctions	Correlative Conjunctions	Common Subordinating Conjunctions
and but or nor	either...or neither...nor not only...but also both...and whether...or	after before although though even though as much as as long as as soon as because since so that	in order that so if lest even if that unless until when where whether while

Coordinating conjunctions

Coordinating conjunctions, also called coordinators, are conjunctions that connect two or more equal items.
Examples:

• He plays tennis and soccer
• He works quickly but accurately
• You'd better do your homework, or you'll get a terrible grade.

Correlative conjunctions

Correlative conjunctions are used in pairs.They work in pairs to coordinate two items. Examples of correlative conjunctions include both...and..., either...or, not only... but also...
Examples:

• I didn't know that she can neither read nor write.
• You can either walk to school or take the bus.
• Both Sara and James are invited to the party.
• Whether you watch TV or do your homework is your decision.
• Not only are they noisy but they are also lazy.

Direct and Indirect Object

What is an object?

An object in grammar is a part of a sentence, and often part of the predicate. It refers to someone or something involved in the subject's "performance" of the verb. It is what the verb is being done to. As an example, the following sentence is given:

Subject	Verb	Object
Leila	wrote	the poem

• "Leila" is the subject, the doer or performer,
• "wrote" is a verb that refers to the action,
• "the poem" is the object involved in the action.

Transitive and intransitive verbs

A verb can be classified as transitive or intransitive according to whether it takes or doesn't take an object:

• If a verb takes objects, then it is a transitive verb.
  Example:
  They played soccer. → (The verb play takes ONE object 'soccer')
  They sent him a postcard. → (The verb send takes TWO objects 'him' and 'a postcard')
• If a verb doesn't take an object, then it is an intransitive verb.
  Example:
  She lies. → (The verb 'lie' doesn't take any object)
  The building collapsed. → (The verb 'collapse' doesn't take any object)

Types of objects

There are two types of objects: direct and indirect objects:

Direct object

A direct object answers the question "what?" or "whom?"
Examples:

• David repaired his car → his car is the direct object of the verb repaired. ( What did David repair?)
• He invited Mary to the party → Mary is the direct object of the verb invited. (Whom did he invite?)

Predicate

What is a predicate?

In traditional grammar, a sentence consists of two parts:

• a subject,
• a predicate which modifies the subject.

consider the following sentence:

• Bill likes soccer.

Bill is the subject and likes soccer acts as the predicate (a subsequent description of the subject which is headed with the verb likes.)
Predicates provide information about the subject, such as what the subject is doing or what the subject is like. It must contain a verb but may also contain other sentence elements. These elements may be objects (direct and indirect objects), adverbials...

Examples of predicates

• He laughs. (Predicate containing only a verb)
• She writes poems. (Direct object)
• They gave me a gift . (Indirect object and a direct object)
• He saw her in the hospital . (Adverbial)

When the subject and the predicate are connected with a linking verb, the predicate is either nominal, adjectival or adverbial complement:

Acronyms

What is an acronym?

An Acronym is a type of word formation process. It refers to a word formed from the initial letters of a name or by combining initial letters of a series of words.
Examples:

• NATO = North Atlantic Treaty Organization
• radar = radio detection and ranging
• AIDS = acquired immune deficiency syndrome
• Scuba = self-contained underwater breathing apparatus
• Laser = Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation