32. MUST, MUSTN’T, NEEDN’T ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

ENGLISH GRAMMAR IN USE FOR INTERMEDIATE

32. MUST, MUSTN’T, NEEDN’T

A	Must and mustn't You must do something= it is necessary that you do it: ·         Don't tell anybody what I said. You must keep it a secret. ·         We haven't got much time. We must hurry. You mustn't do something= it is necessary that you do not do it (so don't do it): ·         You must keep it a secret. You mustn't tell anyone. (=don't tell anyone) ·         We must be very quiet. We mustn't make any noise.
B	Needn't and don't need to You needn't do something= it's not necessary to do it (but you can if you like): ·         We've got plenty of time. We needn't hurry. (=it is not necessary to hurry) ·         Joe can stay here. He needn't come with us.     (=it is not necessary for him to come) You can also use don't/doesn't need to: ·         We don't need to hurry. Remember that we say don't need to do /doesn't need to do, but needn't do (without to).
C	Needn't have (done) Study this example situation: Paul and Sue decided to go to a restaurant. They reserved a table. But the restaurant was almost empty. So they needn't have reserved a table. They needn't have reserved a table. =They reserved a table, but this was not necessary. Compare needn't (do) and needn't have (done): ·         Everything will be OK. You needn't worry. (it is not necessary) ·         Everything was OK. You needn't have worried. (you worried, but it was not necessary)
D	Needn't have (done) and didn't need to (do) He needn't have done something= he did it, but now we know that it was not necessary: ·         Why did he get up at 5 o'clock? He needn't have got up so early. He could have stayed in bed longer. He didn't need to do something = it was not necessary to do it. lt doesn't matter whether he did it or not: ·         He didn't need to get up early, so he didn't. ·         He didn't need to get up early, but it was a beautiful morning, so he did. He didn't have to ... is also possible in these examples.

EXERCISES

32.1	Which is correct? 1 We haven't got much time. We must /mustn't hurry. (must is correct) 2 We've got plenty of time. We mustn't /don't need to hurry. 3 I have to talk to Gary. I must /mustn't remember to call him. 4 I have to talk to Gary. I mustn't /needn't forget to call him. 5 There's plenty of time for you to make up your mind. You mustn't /don't need to decide now. 6 We needn't /mustn't wash these tomatoes. They've already been washed. 7 This is a valuable book. You must /needn't take good care of it and you mustn't /don't need to lose it. 8 A: What sort of house do you want to buy? Something big? B: Well, it mustn't /needn't be big- that's not so important. But it must /mustn't have a nice garden- that's essential.
32.2	Complete the sentences. Use needn't+ one of these verbs: ask     come     explain    leave    walk 1 We've got plenty of time. We ____needn’t leave _____yet. 2 I can manage the shopping alone. You ________with me. 3 We ________ all the way home. We can get a taxi. 4 Just help yourself if you'd like more to eat. You _________first. 5 I understand the situation perfectly. You ___________further.
32.3	Write two sentences for each situation. Use needn't have in the first sentence and could have in the second (as in the example). For could have, see Unit 27. 1 Why did you rush? Why didn't you take your time? _____ You needn’t have rushed. You could have taken your time. _____________ 2 Why did you walk home? Why didn't you take a taxi? ___________________________________________________________________ 3 Why did you stay at a hot el? Why didn't you stay with us? ___________________________________________________________________ 4 Why did she phone me in the middle of the night? Why didn't she wait until the morning? ___________________________________________________________________ 5 Why did you shout at me? Why weren't you more patient? ___________________________________________________________________ 6 Why did you leave without saying anything? Why didn't you say goodbye to me? ___________________________________________________________________
32.4	Correct the sentences where necessary. 1 We have plenty of time. We don't need hurry. ___ We don’t need to hurry ______ 2 You must keep it a secret. You mustn't tell anybody else. OK 3 I'll be all right. You needn't to worry about me _____________________________ 4 You mustn't wait for me. You go on and I'll join you later. _____________________________ 5 You don't need to keep these emails. You can delete them. _____________________________ 6 I needn't have gone out, so I stayed at home. _____________________________ 7 I needn't have bought eggs. We had some already. _____________________________

ANSWER KEY

32.1 2 don't need to 3 must 4 mustn't 5 don't need to 6 needn't 7 must _ __ mustn't 8 needn't ... must 32.2 2 needn't come 3 needn't walk 4 needn't ask 5 needn't explain 32.3 2 You needn't have walked home. You could have taken a taxi. 3 You needn't have stayed at a hotel. You could have stayed with us. 4 She needn't have phoned me in the middle of the night . She could have waited until the morning. 5 You needn't have shouted at me. You could have been more patient. 6 You needn't have left without saying anything. You could have said goodbye to me. 32.4 3 You needn't worry /You don't need to worry /You don't have to worry 4 You needn't wait /You don't need to wait /You don't have to wait 5 OK (You needn't keep is also correct) 6 I didn't need to go /I didn't have to go 7 OK