questions - have to/must, article, mistakes

[Lenka]

I need your help. I have some questions + I would like you to find mistakes in the text below.
Here I’ll write the questions:
1)…you must tell the police… - could we use HAVE TO intead?
2)Must I be a slave to my mobile? – could I write Do I have to… instead? I learned that have to is used to express a necesarry of a rule or of outside authority and must is used to say I myself find it necesarry and I want to do it. If I must/have to (?) be a slave to my mobile, I think I don’t think it is necesarry. If I thought it was necesarry i wouldn’t call it „to be a slave“.
3)But it was in bad condition.
-why there isn’t the article A? I mean like this: But it was in a bad condition.

3)correct the mistakes:
Holidays in January in the Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, there is just the middle of the winter in January, so the weather is quite cold and you have to wear warm clothes. The best is to wear a coat, warm shoes, mittens or gloves and a cap. You don’t have to wear the mittens and the cap, but you’ll see you’ll probably prefer to wear them. If you like skiing, you have a lot of possibilities here, when it’s winter. You should wear trousers and a jacket for skiing
You can do a lot of things in the Czech Republic, even if it is just January. First of all, the well known sport you can practise here is skiing. But you can try any other winter sports, of course. If you don’t like winter sports, you can go for example swimming to spa towns (or any other with swimming pools). If you don’t like sports at all, you can for instance visit some of our museums. You could also visit our castles, but they aren’t ussually opened in winter. And of course, you can always simply walk and watch all the nice nature (or beatiful historical town streets) covered by snow.
There isn’t any special food or there also aren‘t any special drinks that Czech people drink only in Janury, but I can mention some food and drinks people eat and drink. Well, I will start with drinks. It is more usual that people drink better hot drinks in winter, such as hot chocolate, coffe, tea, mull etc. It is also good to drink juices, because this season, people haven’t got enough vitamins. Our national meal is probably pork with dumplings and sauerkraut. By the way, it is my favourite meal.

3a)Do you think it would be better to write: open instead of opened?
3b)People prefer to drink instead of people drink?
Are there some other mistakes?

Lenka

[Tdol]

1- Must & have to are often interchangeable. 'Have to' is sometimes used to show that the authority is external and not from the speaker.

[Lenka]

Originally Posted by tdol

1- Must & have to are often interchangeable. 'Have to' is sometimes used to show that the authority is external and not from the speaker.

Well, if have to is used to show that the authority is external, why are the sentences I wrote correct?
1)…you must tell the police…
2)Must I be a slave to my mobile?

And what about the other questoins I ask? Can you answer them?

Lenka

[Lenka]

Please, can someone try to answer?
Lenka

[Lenka]

Well, so can you at least answer the third question? How can I learn English when I don't know the answers of my questions?

[bmo]

Originally Posted by Lenka

Well, so can you at least answer the third question? How can I learn English when I don't know the answers of my questions?

3a. open
3b. prefer

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Lenka

I need your help. I have some questions, plus I would like you to find mistakes in the text below.

Here are my questions:

1) You must tell the police.

Is it possible to use have to instead of must?

Both must and have to express a necessity, so, yes, 'have to tell the police' is possible. :D

Here's a site that explains the meaning of English Modals. Click here.

Originally Posted by Lenka

2) Must I be a slave to my mobile?

Is it possible to use Do I have to... instead of Must I be...? I learned that have to is used to express a necesarry of a rule or of outside authority, whereas must is used to say, I myself find it necessary and I want to do it. I don't think "I must/have to be a slave to my mobile" expresses necessity. If I thought it was necessary, I wouldn’t call it "to be a slave".

In this context, notably a question, Modal Must is used to express irony. It's used humorously or sarcastically to express a different or opposite tendency, like this,

EX: Must you slam the door? :x
Is it necessary to slam the door? Is there some requirement I don't know about that says you have to slam the door?)

EX: Must I do eveything around here?
Is it necessary that I do everything around here? Is there some requirement that I don't know about that says I have to do everything?

EX: Must I be a slave?
Is it necessary to be a slave? Is there some requirement that I don't know about that says I have to be a slave?

Originally Posted by Lenka

3)But it was in bad condition.

Why isn't there an article before bad e.g., But it was in a bad condition?

The difference in meaning is rather slight:

A. It was in a bad condition.
=> It was in a specific condition, that condition being bad)

B. It was in bad condition.
=> Its condition, in general, is bad.

Originally Posted by Lenka

3) Please correct the mistakes:

Holidays in January in the Czech Republic

It's January in the Czech Republic which means we are in the middle of the winter. The temperatures are quite low at this time of year, so you should wear warm clothes. A coat, warm shoes, mittens or gloves, and a cap are the best things to wear. We don’t usually have to wear mittens or a cap, but you might prefer to wear them. If you like skiing, you should wear trousers and a jacket.

There are a lot of things to do in the Czech Republic, even in January. First of all, you can practice skiing, a well-known sport here. [b]If skiing doesn't interest you[/u], you can of course try other winter attractions such as swimming at one of the spa towns and visiting our museums and castles. Some of the castles are not open in the winter, but you can take a nature walk or experience the beauty of the snow-covered streets in our historical towns.

Our national meal is probably pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, which is my favourite meal. There isn’t really any special type of food or drink that Czech people eat or drink in January, but people [b]feel its best to drink hot drinks in the winter, such as hot chocolate, coffee, tea, mull, and so on. It is also a good idea to drink juices loaded with vitamin C because during the cold winter months people are usually indoors and out of the sun's reach.

You should add a concluding paragraph. :wink:

Originally Posted by Lenka

3a)Do you think it would be better to write: open instead of opened?
3b)People prefer to drink instead of people drink?
Are there some other mistakes?

3a) Some of the castles are not open in the winter. (Adjective)

3b)
People prefer to drink... (Statement of Preference)
People drink... (Statement of Fact)

All the best, :D