must vs. have to

[CarloSsS]

It's impossible to say without a context that 'must' means 'have to' and that it is used in the same way, or that it isn't.

I provided context in the 1st and 16th post. When I tried to compare "must" and "have to", I referred to those (and similar) sentences.

What about these two?

I have to clean up my bedroom
I need to clean up my bedroom

What is the difference between these two?

Perhaps you should start a new thread if you want to introduce "ought" and "should" and "need to" etc. or it's going to get extremely complicated.

You're right, "ought to" is and "should" (which I never mentioned and am not interested in) are quite different and shouldn't be discussed here, my bad. However, I feel that "need to" has a very similar meaning to "have to" and "must" and can be discussed here. The only reason why I didn't add "need to" to the tile is that I just didn't remember it when I started the thread.

 

[Barb_D]

I've been following this thread and am simply confused about my own answer.

I do feel "must" is stronger than "have to."

For example, at work, I might say "I have to leave at 2 today. I have to go to dentist." Someone might say "Well, I've scheduled a meeting at 1. Can you make it?" And I would say "Yes, but I *must* leave right at 2."

Or I might say "I have to stop at the grocery store on the way home." And if someone says "There was a big accident on Route 30 and traffic is crawling" (knowing that's how I get to the grocery store) I may say "Oh, then I'll go tomorrow." But if I'm completely out of toilet paper at home, then "I *must* stop at the grocery story today, darn it, even though Route 30 is closed. It will take me forever to get there."

 

[emsr2d2]

There are some instances where I feel they are interchangeable and some when they're not. I can't find any connection between them so, to be honest, it seems pointless to post my example sentences here as it might well confuse the issue further. I simply wanted to give my opinion that for me, there is no single rule for this.

 

[SoothingDave]

I've been following this thread and am simply confused about my own answer.

I do feel "must" is stronger than "have to."

For example, at work, I might say "I have to leave at 2 today. I have to go to dentist." Someone might say "Well, I've scheduled a meeting at 1. Can you make it?" And I would say "Yes, but I *must* leave right at 2."

Or I might say "I have to stop at the grocery store on the way home." And if someone says "There was a big accident on Route 30 and traffic is crawling" (knowing that's how I get to the grocery store) I may say "Oh, then I'll go tomorrow." But if I'm completely out of toilet paper at home, then "I *must* stop at the grocery story today, darn it, even though Route 30 is closed. It will take me forever to get there."

I agree with this. I would say in most situations, "have to" is used, unless the intensity of a "must" is required.

 

[5jj]

I thought you might be interested in what some other (British) writers have to say on this:

... MUST would not be used where it is clear that there is external necessity. A distinction could in fact be drawn between three kinds of necessity, deontic (subject-oriented), neutral and external, and it could be said that MUST may be either deontic or neutral, and HAVE (GOT) TO either neutral or external; negatively, HAVE (GOT) TO is never deontic, MUST never external.


Palmer, FR (1990.116) Modality and the English Moods, 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] edn, Harlow: Longman


Where must implies ‘self-obligation’, have (got) to implies ‘obligation by external forces’.

Quirk et al, (1986.226) A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Harlow: Longman

Have and Have got are most commonly used for deontic necessity, as in i [i. You have (got) to come in now.] Here they characteristically differ from must in being objective rather than subjective: with [1] I’m likely to be relaying someone else’s instruction but with You must come in it’s more likely that I am myself telling you to.

Huddleston and Pullum (2002.206-6) The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Cambridge: CUP