VOA名师答疑2024--‘Must’ or ‘Have To’?

‘Must’ or ‘Have To’?

　　Hello! This week on Ask a Teacher, we answer a question from Mequanent Antigegn.

　　Question

　　"Must vs have to"--I find it difficult to differentiate¹ them.

　　You must wear your uniform in the classroom. Or You have to wear your uniform in the classroom.

　　Which one is correct?

　　Answer

　　Thank you for this question. "Must" and "have to" can have the same meaning. We have talked about "must" and "have to" in an earlier Ask a Teacher.

　　Both of the sentences you provide are correct. Sometimes it is better to choose "must" over "have to" or "have to" over "must."

　　Must

　　When we use must in spoken English, usually it is to express something we think is likely. In that case, it is similar in meaning to the word "probably."

　　You must be cold after working all day in the rain.

　　You are probably cold after working all day in the rain.

　　My supervisor² must not care about the budget cuts.

　　My supervisor probably doesn't care about the budget cuts.

　　But, we also use it as we use "have to," although more commonly in writing.

　　Climate change must be stopped.

　　You must see the doctor before Friday.

　　Have to

　　"Have to," "have got to" and its reduced form "gotta," are used very often in spoken language to communicate requirement³.

　　I have to get up at 5am tomorrow.

　　You gotta relax.

　　So, which sentence should you use? It depends on the context⁴. Are you wanting to express a probability⁵? Or are you trying to give an order or announce a rule?

　　And now we must say goodbye! We have to check the mail for new questions about American English! If you have one, send us an email at [email protected].

　　Words in This Story

　　uniform—n. a special set of clothes someone has to wear to work or school

1 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

2 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

3 requirement   

n.需要，要求，请求，规定，必要条件

参考例句：

• Patience is a requirement in teaching.耐心是教学必备的条件。
• Your requirement that she wait till next week is reasonable.你要求她等到下周是有道理的。

4 context   

n.背景，环境，上下文，语境

参考例句：

• You can always tell the meaning of a word from its context.你常可以从上下文中猜出词义来。
• This sentence does not seem to connect with the context.这个句子似乎与上下文脱节。

5 probability   

n.可能性，可能发生的事，概率

参考例句：

• The probability that it will rain today is high.今天下雨的可能性很大。
• He must calculate the probability of failure.他必须计算一下失败的概率。