Speaker 1: You must check out today's podcast. It's an absolute must
and for your own good you must not skip any
part of this episode. You must be wondering why I
just said that, so let's find out.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
This is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight thirteen. Six Ways
to use Must Today, we're talking about a small word
that carries a lot of weight must must just for letters,
but it has several meanings depending on how you use it.
And yeah, it's used a lot in both formal and
casual English, so it's a good one to learn. Well,
let's get right into it. First off. Must can show necessity,
like something you absolutely have to do if you're going
to travel internationally you must have a passport, no passport,
no flight, simple as that. Or at work, someone might
say you must wear your ID badge in the building.
That means it's required, it's not optional. When must is
used this way, it has a strong formal sound, like
there's a law or a set rule that you need
to follow without exception. You must wear a suit and
tie when you visit a client. That's the company rule.
And you must wear a seatbelt when you drive, that's
the law. Now. Very closely related to that is must
not and must not shows prohibition in other words, something
that is not allowed, also because there is a law
or a set rule that you need to follow, Like
you must not smoke in this building. Nope, no smoking,
not in the hallway, not in the bathroom, nowhere. You
must not smoke in this building. That's the rule. And
when you fly, you must not bring fireworks or other
flammable items with you or in your checked baggage. Not
only is that prohibited, it's common sense right. Or at
a museum the sign might say you must not touch
the artwork. Again, it's not just a suggestion, it's a rule.
So those are the clear rule based meanings of must.
But must is also used when you're pretty sure about something.
Let's say your coworker has been staying late every night
and working weekends. You might say, wow, you must be exhausted.
In other words, I'm pretty sure you're exhausted. Or if
someone's laughing and smiling at their phone, you could say
you must be watching something funny. You're not one hundred
percent sure, but you're using logic to guess and you're confident.
And the opposite form must not is used when you're
pretty sure something is not a certain way, Like that
restaurant is never crowded, the food must not be too good.
When you have an empty restaurant, even on the weekend,
there must be some problem, right. That's what this use
of must and must not shows. You're pretty sure about something.
Here's another interesting one. We use must to show irritation
or frustration. We usually use must this way as a question,
and the tone and intonation is important. Like imagine you're
in the library trying to focus on studying and someone
is clicking their pen non stop. You might snap and say,
must you do that right now? It's kind of like
saying do you really have to do that? But it
sounds more annoyed. Another one might be must you interrupt
me every five minutes? It's not a genuine question, it's
more of a complaint. Must you make so much noise
when you eat? How rude? Okay, let's take a breather
with a sweeter meaning of must, And that's a strong
suggestion or recommendation. Like you know, when you have a
piece of cake and it's just the best thing you
ever tasted. You might tell your friend, ah, you must
taste this cake. It's incredible. You're not forcing them and
there's no rule, but you're using must to emphasize that
you really want them to follow your suggestion you must
taste this cake. Or when a friend visits your city,
you might say something like, oh, you must check out
that new museum downtown. It's totally worth it. You're not
giving a command, you're just really encouraging them to do it.
And finally, must can be a noun. Yep, it's not
just a verb, and as a noun, ah must means
something that's necessary or essential. Like if you're going hiking
in these mountains, you might say good boots are a must,
or if it's the middle of the summer in Manhattan,
well water and sunscreen are a must. It's like saying,
don't even think about going without these things. And speaking
of the Big Apple, trying a slice of dollar pizza, well,
for sure that's a must. So to wrap it up,
must can be a rule, a guess, a compliment, a suggestion,
or even a thing you need. That's a lot for
one little word, right, and thanks for listening. You must
come back for the next episode see what I did there.
Keep in mind the best way to remember English like
this and any other word or phrase in English, is
to take that word or phrase, write it in a
sentence that's true for you or true in your world,
and then memorize your sentences. And hey, did you know?
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language is not easy, but it's not impossible, and I'm
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