Reference · module 16
Should, must, might
Everything this module explains, on one page.
should
Give advice without giving an order.
- should plus the plain verb: You should rest. It never changes and never takes to, exactly like can and will.
- It is advice, not instruction. You should see a doctor is a suggestion; You must see a doctor is nearly an order.
- Should I? asks for advice: Should I call her? It is the question to use when you genuinely do not know what to do.
The mistake you are about to make
You should to rest.
You should rest.
No to after should, just as there is none after can or will. It creeps in because the translation in most languages is an infinitive.
must and have to
Say what is necessary, and who decided.
- must and have to both mean necessary. must usually comes from you: I must stop smoking. have to comes from outside: I have to wear a uniform.
- The negatives are completely different. mustn't means it is forbidden. don't have to means it is not necessary — the opposite of forbidden.
- You mustn't smoke here bans it. You don't have to smoke here allows it and says nobody is asking you to. One letter apart, and opposite meanings.
The mistake you are about to make
You don't have to smoke here. (meaning: banned)
You mustn't smoke here.
Most languages use one negative for both ideas. English splits them into opposites: mustn't forbids, don't have to releases you from an obligation.
might and may
Say something is possible without promising it.
- might means possible: It might rain. I might come. It says perhaps and commits you to nothing at all.
- may means the same in this use and sounds slightly more formal. Both take the plain verb and neither ever changes.
- maybe is one word at the front of a sentence: Maybe he's late. may be is two words and a verb: He may be late. They sound identical.
The mistake you are about to make
He maybe late.
He may be late.
Maybe and may be sound identical. Maybe is one word and opens the sentence; may be is two, and the second one is the verb.
Rules and signs
Read a sign and explain a rule.
- Signs are short: No smoking. No entry. Keep off the grass. They use no plus -ing, or a bare imperative, and never a full sentence.
- To explain one: You're not allowed to smoke here, or Smoking isn't allowed. Both are more polite than mustn't when talking to a stranger.
- allowed to takes to; let does not: They don't let you smoke here. Two ways to say it, and only one of them takes the to.
The mistake you are about to make
They don't let you to smoke here.
They don't let you smoke here.
Allowed takes to and let does not, though the two sentences mean the same thing. Let you smoke, but you are not allowed to smoke.