you mustn't go to school

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ripley

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Hi; should I say

1) Tomorrow it is Sunday; so you don't have to go to school or

2) Tomorrow it is Sunday; so you mustn't go to school


?????????
I know that "don't have to" means "it is not necessary", but in this case you don't have the opportunity to choose if you want or not; so, if you go to school, you are not doing something that you could have avoided; you just can't go because school is closed on Sunday;
as for "mustn't" I know it means "it is forbidden"; in this case, you won't get fined if you go there; you'll just remain outside if you don't remember it's Sunday; in front of the gate you'll understand your mistake.

So, my doubt is: is it correct to use either "don't have to" or "mustn't" in this sentence?
Which one would be ok?
Thanks
Rip
 

Ouisch

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"Don't have to" is the appropriate phrase in this instance. "Musn't" indicates that the intended action is either forbidden or dangerous (as in "you musn't mix bleach with ammonia" or "you musn't leave your seat while the plane is taking off"). If a person does go to school on a Sunday, there will be no negative consequences; he'll just encounter a closed building. :-D
 

ripley

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I see. But...does it make sense?????
When I say: "you don't have to" I mean that you can do it if you like, but that you are not obliged; it depends on whta you wnat to do; in this case iot doesn't depend on you.....the school is closed and you can't attend even if you'd like to (and then I ask myself, if there is someone on the earth that would love to go to school on Sunday, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
I know that mustn't is worse in this case.... but does it mean that the least worse is ok???
 

bhaisahab

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I see. But...does it make sense?????
When I say: "you don't have to" I mean that you can do it if you like, but that you are not obliged; it depends on whta you wnat to do; in this case iot doesn't depend on you.....the school is closed and you can't attend even if you'd like to (and then I ask myself, if there is someone on the earth that would love to go to school on Sunday, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
I know that mustn't is worse in this case.... but does it mean that the least worse is ok???
Yes, it makes sense, but if you don't like it you can say "You can't go to school tomorrow". It's not possible for you to go, because it's closed. This is not the same as "mustn't" which means it is forbidden, it's not forbidden it's just not possible.
 

Ouisch

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I see. But...does it make sense?????
When I say: "you don't have to" I mean that you can do it if you like, but that you are not obliged; it depends on whta you wnat to do; in this case iot doesn't depend on you.....the school is closed and you can't attend even if you'd like to (and then I ask myself, if there is someone on the earth that would love to go to school on Sunday, too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
I know that mustn't is worse in this case.... but does it mean that the least worse is ok???

Well, technically, it still does depend upon what the person wants to do - he is certainly free to go to the school building on Sunday, but he'll be wasting his time because school will not be in session. But there are no negative consequences if he does go all the way to the school building on a Sunday; he'll just be disappointed that he went there for nothing. If you want to expand on your original admonishment you could say to him "You don't have to go to school on Sunday. And if you do decide to go, you won't be able to do anything once you arrive because school is closed! No one else is there!"

In answer to your primary question, yes, the phrase "dont have to go to school" makes sense gramatically (if not logically). :)
 

birdeen's call

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"Don't have to" is the appropriate phrase in this instance. "Musn't" indicates that the intended action is either forbidden or dangerous (as in "you musn't mix bleach with ammonia" or "you musn't leave your seat while the plane is taking off"). If a person does go to school on a Sunday, there will be no negative consequences; he'll just encounter a closed building. :-D
Ouisch, is the spelling "musn't" without the "t" after "s" accepted?
 
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Rover_KE

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Ousch, is the spelling "musn't" without the "t" after "s" accepted?

No, it was a simple typo (just like your misspelling of her name).

* * *

Ripley, please stop holding down the ? and ! keys.

A single use of punctuation marks will suffice.

Rover
 

birdeen's call

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No, it was a simple typo (just like your misspelling of her name).
I doubted myself, because Ouisch used the spelling more than once. (I have corrected the typo.)
 
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