What is the modal expression of must?

Must is a modal verb. It is followed by the base form of a verb. You use must to indicate that you think it is very important or necessary for something to happen. You use must not or mustn’t to indicate that you think it is very important or necessary for something not to happen.

What is the past tense form of must?

The modal verb must has two past tense forms: had to and must have. Which form we use depends on whether we want to express obligation or if we want to say how certain we are about the probability of something happening.

Is must present tense or past tense?

“Must” IS the past tense of must. Also used in conjunction with “needs,” as in “he must needs attack before he be defeated.”

Can must be used in the future?

The future of “must” in English. As you know, we use “must” to express necessity or obligation in the present. We express necessity or obligation in the future with the verb “to have to”.

Is a modal that shows ability in the past?

We use the modal verbs can, could and be able to + verb infinitive to talk about ability. We use can when we speak about general ability in the present. We use could when we speak about general ability in the past. Tommy can swim.

Which verb forms can describe necessity in the future?

The modal verbs “must,” “have to” and “have got to” show that something is not optional; it is necessary. Must is the strongest and most serious modal verb of the three and is most common in writing. It is unusual to use “must” in questions. I must study tonight.

Can I use past tense after Must?

When indirect speech is introduced by a verb in the past tense, must can be used as a past tense: She said that I must come immediately. There is no future tense, but must can be used for saying that someone should do something in the future: You must be here at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.

How can I use must?

Must is used to express obligation, give orders and give advice. It can only be used for present and future reference. When the past is involved, you use have to.

How do you use must?

How do you use must have?

We use “must have”, “can’t have” and “might have” in the same way as the present perfect – the action we are describing happened, or did not happen, in the past and is still true in the present. “must have”: we believe the action definitely happened. “She must have left the house by now; it’s nearly 11 o’clock.”

What are the past modals?

Past modals tell what could have, would have, and should have happened. To form these past modals, use could, would, or should followed by have, followed by a past participle verb. Each of these modals has a slightly different meaning. We’ll look at each of them using examples from movies and popular songs.

What is the future of must?

Like all modals, ‘must’ has no future form; we have to use an alternative way of expressing the idea, for example: He will have to (future obligation) visit the doctor. ‘Must’ has no past tense form; once again, we have to use an alternative way of expressing the idea, for example: He had to visit the doctor.

What is the modal verb for must?

Modal verb MUST – Form, use and meaning. “ must ” is a modal verb. In this lesson, you will learn: The form of must.

Do modal verbs take -s in the simple present?

They do not take -s in the simple present and they do not have a past simple or past participle form. However, some modal verbs have alternative forms that allow us to express the same ideas in different tenses. Learn about the usage of modal verbs and their alternative forms in English grammar with Lingolia’s online lesson.

What does past modals could have mean?

Meaning of past modals could have + past participle Something was possible in the past or there was a probability, but it didn’t happen. He could have slept till noon but the alarm clock woke him up.

Is ought to a modal verb?

An exception is the phrase ought to, which is considered a modal verb. Here’s a tip: Want to make sure your writing always looks great? Grammarly can save you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing issues on all your favorite websites.