negation of "must"

Question

what is negation of "must"? can u explain it to me? thanks a lot...

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

I think it would be simply 'must not'.

Khoff · Answer

Not necessarily, Nona - it's pretty hard to say which is actually the negation of (a)"you must go to the store," but certainly (b) "you must not go to the store" has a very different meaning from (c) "You needn't go to the store," (or "You don't have to go to the store.") In practice, I think (c) is more often the "opposite" or "negation" of (a) that (b) is. For instance:

Dear, (a) you must go to the store right away -- we have no milk for the baby.

Oh, wait a minute - I just found some milk,. Okay, (c)you don't have to go to the store.

In that example you would not say (b)"you must not go to the store," would you?

(c) means "it is NOT IMPERATIVE that that you go to the store," and (b) means 'it is imperative that you NOT go to the store." Each of them could be said to be a negation of "you must go to the store," but in a different way. Does this make sense?

Rotter · Answer

An interesting question.

1a] I must go to the gym today.

The above is fine. Well, if you want the neagation form, I would write the following:

1b] I must not go to the gym today.

Now let us take this example for yesterday.

2a] I had to go to the gym yesterday.
The above is fine. What is the negation here?

I hadn't go to the gym yesterday. ----> This looks and sound odd.
Could you help me, please?

Nona the brit · Answer

Looking at it all again it is clear that must not is not necessarily the negation of must. It will depend on the degree of compulsion required. Must not is effectively banning someone from doing something.

You must not look directly at the sun during an eclipse or you will damage your eyes. No room for negotiation/personal choice here, so 'must not'.

I agree with the milk example, the original sentence was 'must' as it was essential to get milk for the baby, however the negation does not need to ban the person from going to the shop, so 'needn't' is appropriate. I personally would say 'You don't have to go to the shop', and this also is the answer to 2a from the last poster. I had to go the gym/I did not have to go to the gym. I'm sure a grammar guru can explain why exactly.

1b) 'Must not' is again a little strong, unless perhaps there is an overwhelming reason not to go and some terrible consequence if you did (I must not go to the gym today, no matter how much I want to, as I really have to stay in and finish painting the baby's room before the wife brings her home from hospital!)

Rotter · Answer

Nona

2a] I had to go to the gym yesterday.
The above is fine. What is the negation here?

2b] I hadn't go to the gym yesterday.

You wouldn't write the '2b' sentence, would you? You touched on the subject of strong nature when using the word 'must'. I would agree with you. I am still interested in the negation form of my '2a' sentence. Of course there are so many other ways to say this.

Is the '2b' sentence grammatically wrong?

Nona the brit · Answer

The negation would be 'I did not have to go to the gym yesterday'.

I'll ask a better grammarian to pop in and explain why!

Rotter · Answer

nona the brit wrote the following:

I'll ask a better grammarian to pop in and explain why!
------------------------------------------------------------------------

You are the best grammarian I have ever met.

CalifJim · Answer

See Common English Questions and Answers, the thread on Modals. It may help.

CJ

Pieanne · Answer

"must not" is an interdiction.

"don't have to" expresses the lack of an outside obligation.

there's also "need not": "there's no need for you to ... "

Anonymous · Answer

What about if I had the following sentence:

He must not be home - all the lights are out.

Is that a correct use of the negation of must? Or does that explicitly mean that he has to be dragged out of the house because he is not allowed in there? (ignoring the second portion of the sentence).

negation of "must"

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