Present Positive Negative
have to -(strong) obligation coming from
outside(speaker’s authority).
E.g: (situation)
A teacher tells her students: “You have to do
exercises 5 and 6 for tomorrow. “
Then, a student tells her friend: We must do
exercises 5 and 6 for tomorrow. “
*Always used in questions (never must)
-no obligation (lack of obligation)
don't have to E.g.: I don't have to work on Sundays.
(You don't have to work on Sundays, but if
you did it would be just fine).
-necessity (things which are necessary
or obligatory)
need to
I need to go to the toilet (benefit for you).
Need=me
-lack of necessity
don’t need to / E.g.: I don’t need to water the flowers. My
needn’t + inf. brother has done it for me (but if you want
without to to…)
-obligation (official, written rules)
must E.g.: You must wear a seatbelt when you
drive.
-obligation (personal opinion)
E.g.: I must study more.
-duty/strong moral obligation
E.g.: You must respect your parents.
-(very) strong recommendation
E.g.: We must get together for dinner soon.
E.g.: You must visit DC when you are in the
US.
-emphasise necessity (often
general/universal truths)
E.g.: Plants must have light and water to
grow.
-prohibition
mustn’t E.g.: You mustn't smoke here.
E.g.: You mustn’t use your phone while
driving.
-asking for permission
E.g.: Can I sit here, please?
can
-giving permission
E.g.: You can use my phone.
-request (less polite than could)
E.g.: Can you pass the butter, please?
-refusing permission
can’t (cannot) E.g.: You can’t drink any coffee.
-you are given permission to do
be allowed to something
E.g.: Catherine is allowed to drive her car
because she has already come of age.
-you are not given permission to do
not be allowed to something
E.g.: Catherine is not allowed to drive her
car because she has not come of age yet.
-you are expected to behave in a
be supposed to
particular way according to a rule or a
law
E.g.: You’re supposed to keep your seat
belt on during the flight, but I took mine
off.
-when we see something as a problem or
as impossible (questions)
E.g.: How am I supposed to get to work on
time if the train is always late?
-to criticise someone’s performance
E.g.: He can’t sing in tune. He is supposed
to be a professional singer, isn’t he?
not be supposed to -you are expected not to behave in a
particular way according to a rule or a
law
E.g.: You’re not supposed to drive over 50
m.p.h. in a town.
should / ought to / -recommendation / advice
had better E.g.: She should wear a suit to the interview.
-personal obligation (wearker)
E.g.: I should save more money each month.
-asking for advice
E.g.: Should I buy this dress? What do you
think?
shouldn’t -advise not to do something (usually because
oughtn’t to it is bad or wrong).
had better not E.g.: He shouldn’t play with those wires if he
doesn’t know what he is doing.
Past Positive Negative
had to -obligatory or necessary
E.g.: I had to wear a school uniform when I
was a child.
didn'thave to -not obligatory or necessary
E.g.: We didn't have to go to school on
Saturdays.
needed to -obligatory or necessary
E.g.: I needed to wear a school uniform
when I was a child.
-not obligatory or necessary, so you
didn’t need to didn’t do anything
E.g.: He got better and didn’t need to
go to the doctor.
needn’t have + -not obligatory or necessary, but
past participle you did it
E.g.: Thanks, but you needn’t have
brought me wine.
was / were allowed -given permission to do something
to (never could) E.g.: He was allowed to receive visits.
-prohibition
wasn’t / weren’t E.g.: He wasn’t allowed to / couldn’t sit down
allowed to / couldn’t during the lesson.
should / ought -to criticise past actions or to say
have + past they were a mistake
participle E.g.: You should have called me when you
arrived (it didn’t happen).
-to criticise past actions or to say
should not have + they were a mistake
past participle
E.g.: John shouldn’t have left late, then he
would have caught the 9.00 a.m. train.
