'must' with the future reference

Question

Hi there,a) I was wondering whether it's correct to use 'must' in the following sentences:'That will fix it.' (I'm sure it will -&gt; prediction)'That should fix it.' (I expect it will -&gt; expectation)'That must be going to fix it.' (I'm sure it will -&gt; deduction?)'That must be fixing it.'(I'm sure it will -&gt; deduction?)b) Is 'must be going to/must be+ -ing' used to denote certainty about something in the future? How is it different from will/should in this context?Thanks for your comments.

GPY · Accepted Answer

Paul Evdokimov'That must be going to fix it.' (I'm sure it will -> deduction?)

'That must be fixing it.' (I'm sure it will -> deduction?)

I wouldn't use either of these.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Paul Evdokimov'That must be fixing it.'(I'm sure it will -> deduction?)

You are observing an activity, and assume that the process of "fixing it" is ongoing.
For example, you suspected that your computer was infected by some malware. You launched a full virus scan / diagnostic and cleanup process. Your cursor changes to an hourglass, you see a progress bar, and lots of diagnostic messages. Some of the messages say "file put in quarantine."

You think, that must be fixing my computer's infection.

David Hatton · Answer

It doesn't sound terribly natural - I'd probably use 'It must fix it' or 'it will surely fix it'.

GPY · Answer

GPY Paul Evdokimov'That must be going to fix it.' (I'm sure it will -> deduction?)'That must be fixing it.' (I'm sure it will -> deduction?)I wouldn't use either of these.

I should clarify that I mean I wouldn't use either of these for the stated purpose. As AS pointed out, the second one can be used for another purpose.

Paul Evdokimov · Answer

AlpheccaStarsYou are observing an activity, and assume that the process of "fixing it" is ongoing.

AlpheccaStars, that wasn't my initial purpose. I'm trying to use 'must' to denote certainty that something will happen in the future. The original context is the following: there is a problem, and a solution has been suggested. The four sentences above are intended to express certainty/expectation that the remedy will solve the problem in the future.

Premise ?1.
We use 'must + perf. inf.' to express certainty that something happened in the past. We use 'must + bare inf.'/'must + be -ing' to express certainty that something is happening at the moment of speaking (now), or happens usually.
There must be - no pun intended - some legit usage of 'must' when referring to the future certainty.

Premise ?2.
To draw a conclusion about something that's very likely to happen in the future we can use 'must + be -ing' or 'must + be going to':
'I have never seen so many construction workers here. What are they up to?' 'They must be going to dig up the road.'
'I was wrong about the concert being today. It must be happening next Friday.'

Paul Evdokimov · Answer

GPYI should clarify that I mean I wouldn't use either of these for the stated purpose.

GPY, would you please explain why?
What about the examples below - do they also sound awkward in your opinion:
'I have never seen so many construction workers here. What are they up to?' 'They must be going to dig up the road.'
'I was wrong about the concert being today. It must be happening next Friday.'

Paul Evdokimov · Answer

David Hatton I'd probably use 'It must fix it'

David, can it really refer to the future? 'Must fix' sounds like some kind of a general rule implying that this remedy works perfectly always.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

An example of a "must" construction referring to a future event.

Mr. King said he was coming on a Sunday in January. Since he didn't come last Sunday, he must be coming on either January 22 or January 29.

There are a few examples of "must be going to " in Fraze.it.
http://fraze.it/n_search.jsp?q=%22must+be+going+to%22&l=0

And there was only one in the American Corpus.

The combination is so rare that it seems unnatural to us.

GPY · Answer

Paul EvdokimovWhat about the examples below - do they also sound awkward in your opinion: 'I have never seen so many construction workers here. What are they up to?' 'They must be going to dig up the road.''I was wrong about the concert being today. It must be happening next Friday.'

Both those sound OK to me.

"He must be going to fix it" and "He must be fixing it" also sound OK to me, so it seems to be the "That" in the original sentences that is the problem. (Note that "He must be fixing it" can mean action in progress now or future expected action. Only the context will tell which is meant. With no context, the former is what naturally comes to mind.)

CalifJim · Answer

Paul EvdokimovI'm trying to use 'must' to denote certainty that something will happen in the future.

'must' can't do that. 'must' indicates only great confidence in the reasoning process, not certainty that the future event or state will occur, and the reasoning is always in the present, but about the past, present, or future. 'must' says The most logical conclusion I can come to (in my reasoning now) is that ...
.
something happened in the past (It must have happened.)
something is happening right now (It must be happening.)
something happens these days (It must happen.)
something is going to happen (It must be going to happen.)
something was going to happen (It must have been going to happen.)
something is about to happen (It must be about to happen.)
something was about to happen (It must have been about to happen.)
.
and so on.
.
Here are some examples that might interest you.
.
It's pretty cloudy. It must be going to rain.
Judging by the look in his eye, the boss must be going to fire somebody.
I don't know why she's in LA. She must be going to lead some kind of conference out here.
.
I thought he must have been going to look for her.
She's not usually in that part of town. She must have been going to buy books at that new bookstore.
When he took the rocks and wood he had collected, she realized he must have been going to use them to make a fire pit.
.
The glue is holding so far. You must be doing something right. / You must have done something right.
She's hasn't been at work in days. She must be taking that holiday in Greece that she's been talking about. / She must have taken that holiday in Greece that she's been talking about.
Her suitcases are all packed. She must be taking that holiday in Greece that she's been talking about.
She's running toward the plane. It must be taking off fairly soon.
.
CJ

'must' with the future reference

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions