Notice that, if we use have to, we never use the SHORT FORM: We have to go now not ‘We’ve to go now’ Pete has to go now not ‘Pete’s to go now’ but if we use have got to we don’t normally
Trang 112 You can’t be
serious!
In this unit you will learn how to:
• talk about what you and others have to do
• say that you’re not sure about something
• talk about possibilities and probabilities
• use the TO-FORMafter different types of word
Dialogue 1
Tim and Paul are getting ready to go to Henry’s birthday party.
TIM: Can we stop at the shop on the way, Tim?
PAUL: Do we have to? We’ve got to get there by eight, and
it’s a quarter to already
TIM: I have to get him a present – a bottle of wine or
some-thing
PAUL: I’ve already bought him a present
TIM: Well you must be more organised than me, then,
mustn’t you?
Dialogue 2
Tim and Paul are at a party, trying to identify people.
TIM: Is that Fiona over there?
PAUL: It can’t be – she had to go to London this weekend
TIM: Well who is it, then?
PAUL: It might be Suzie – she looks a bit like Fiona at a
distance
TIM: No – I’ve just seen Suzie in the bar
Trang 2PAUL: Well it must be someone else, then, mustn’t it?
TIM: Shall we go and introduce ourselves?
PAUL: Can’t do any harm, can it?
Dialogue 3
Everyone’s in the pub, but Mike’s leaving early.
MIKE: OK, everyone – I’m off!
PAUL: Off? You can’t be serious – it’s not even eight o’clock!
MIKE: I told you earlier – I’m expecting a phone call from
my sister in Australia, and she may call tonight
PAUL: [looks at his watch and does some mental arithmetic]
But it must be the middle of the night down there!
MIKE: No, it’s early morning She might phone before she
goes to work See you all tomorrow
PAUL: See you, Mike
Language point 71 – obligation
There are three ways of talking about obligation (when someone
must do something) in colloquial English:
have to
have got to
must
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Idioms
• a bit like means ‘quite similar’
• at a distance means ‘not near’
• (It) can’t do any harm means ‘Nothing bad will happen if we do it’
Idioms
• I’m off means ‘I’m going now’
Trang 3Here are some examples using all of these:
have to
I ’ve got to do the shopping
must has to Dave ’s got to work all day tomorrow
must have to
we ’ve got to go home now
must
Must is not so common in colloquial English – have to and have got
to are more usual
Notice that, if we use have to, we never use the SHORT FORM:
We have to go now not ‘We’ve to go now’
Pete has to go now not ‘Pete’s to go now’
but if we use have got to we don’t normally use the LONG FORMin statements:
We’ve got to go now not ‘We have got to go now’
Pete’s got to go now not ‘Pete has got to go now’
Pronunciation
have to is always pronounced /`hftə/
(or /hftυ/ before vowels)
has to is always pronounced /`hstə/
(or /hstυ/ before vowels)
The past tense of both have to and have got to is had to /`httə/ or /`httυ/:
PRESENT I have to phone my brother later
PRESENT I’ve got to phone my brother later
PAST I had to phone my brother yesterday
not ‘I had got to phone my brother yesterday’
Trang 4And here’s how we make questions:
PRESENT You have to phone. → Do you have to phone?
He has to phone. → Does he have to phone?
You’ve got to phone. → Have you got to phone?
He’s got to phone. → Has he got to phone?
PAST You had to phone. → Did you have to phone?
He had to phone. → Did he have to phone?
But notice that at the end of Dialogue 1 Tim does use must:
You must be more organised than me
not ‘You have to be more organised than me’
Here, must is correct, and have to/have got to is wrong, because Tim
is not talking about obligation – he’s using must to show that he
assumes something is true, or that he is fairly certain that something
is true We will learn more about this in Language point 72
Exercise 1
Match the two halves of each sentence – the first one has been done for you
1 The car’s broken down so I’ve a have to speak louder
2 There’s a power cut so we b has to wait
3 The train’s late so everybody c got to phone the garage.
4 Dave’s run out of money so he d have to do it again
5 We’re late so we e got to walk to work
6 I can’t hear you so you f have to use candles
7 The buses are on strike so I’ve g have to hurry up
8 Their homework is wrong so h has to go to the bank
they
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Trang 5Exercise 2
Change the statements into questions, and vice versa The first one has been done for you
1 Dave’s got to go now
Has Dave got to go now?
2 We had to show our passports
?
3 I’ve got to sign the form
?
4 Do the children have to pay?
5 Did they have to pay by cheque?
6 Greg had to do the work
_ ?
7 Have Keith and Carl got to play a song?
_
8 I have to have my picture taken
_ ?
9 We’ve got to leave early
_ ?
10 Did Gerry have to work late?
_
Language point 72 – possibility and
certainty
We use the AUXILIARIES can, might and must to say how ‘certain’
(or not) we are of something In Dialogue 1 Phil says:
it can’t be = it isn’t possible
it might be = it is possible
it must be = it is fairly certain
And in Dialogue 2 Paul and Mike use these auxiliaries in longer sentences:
Trang 6You can’t be serious
= ‘it isn’t possible that you are serious’
She might phone
= ‘it is possible that she’ll phone’
It must be the middle of the night
= ‘I’m fairly certain that it’s the middle of the night’
Might /mɑit/ can be used with the BASE-FORM of any verb to show
that it is possible that something will happen Here are some more
examples:
James might come with us
Your sister might help you with your homework
We might arrive late at the party
And we can add not to show that it’s possible that something won’t
happen:
James might not come with us
= ‘it’s possible that James won’t come’
Your sister might not want to help
We might not be in time
And instead of might we can use may / mεi/ or could /kυd/:
James may come with us
We could arrive late
So, for example:
‘It’s possible that it’s too late’
It might be too late
It may be too late
It could be too late
but not ‘It can be too late’
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Be careful! We don’t use can to mean possibility:
James can come with us
= ‘James is able to come with us’
not ‘it’s possible that James will come’
Trang 7Exercise 3
Use can’t, might and must to make these sentences more colloquial
– the first one has been done for you
1 It isn’t possible that he’s late → He can’t be late
2 It’s possible that James is ill →
3 It isn’t possible that you’re right →
4 It’s fairly certain that you’re joking! →
5 It’s possible that it’ll snow tonight →
6 It’s fairly certain that they like
7 It isn’t possible that this is true →
8 It’s possible that Terry will come later →
9 It’s possible that the rain will stop soon →
10 It isn’t possible that Pete thinks that →
Exercise 4
Correct the following sentences Be careful – one of them doesn’t
need correcting
1 You don’t can be serious!
2 I might to phone Julie after dinner
3 It musts be very hot in Australia in the summer
4 We’re having got to do the shopping
5 Did Adrian got to work late yesterday?
6 Did you had to light the fire yourself?
7 Gerry might call in later on
8 I’ve get to got some money from the bank
Dialogue 4
Jane comes in to find Henry at the computer He doesn’t look very happy.
HENRY: I’m never doing this again!
JANE: What, dear?
HENRY: Writing a novel on the computer
JANE: Why? What’s wrong?
HENRY: The bloody thing’s packed up on me!
JANE: You’re joking! How’s that happened?
HENRY: The hard drive must have crashed, or something
JANE: But you can’t have lost the whole novel!
Trang 8HENRY: I don’t know I may be able to retrieve it if I can get
the computer up and running again
JANE: But you must have kept a back-up, surely?
HENRY: If only!
Language point 73 – ‘must have’
When Henry says in Dialogue 4:
The hard drive must have crashed
he uses must (not have to/have got to) + have + PAST PARTICIPLEto
say what he thinks has happened This might be a good time to look
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Idioms
• bloody /`bld/ is an ADJECTIVEthat we use in informal situations
with NOUNS, or an ADVERBthat we use with adjectives, to add
emphasis when we are angry or frustrated It’s a bit rude, but not
very
this bloody computer bloody stupid
• up and running means ‘functioning properly and without
problems’
• If only! means ‘I wish what you just said was true, but it’s not!’
Trang 9again at Language point 53 if you want to remind yourself about how to form the past participle
More examples:
There’s milk on the floor – the cat must have knocked the bottle over
The front door is open – someone must have broken into the house!
My passport’s not in my bag – I must have left it at the
post office
Gerry’s not at his desk – he must have gone home early
But when we want to say what we think hasn’t happened, we don’t
use mustn’t have Look what Jane says:
You can’t have lost the whole novel
not ‘You mustn’t have lost the whole novel’
She means ‘It isn’t possible that you’ve lost the whole novel’
This fits with what we saw about must be and can’t be in
Language point 72 – let’s remind ourselves:
+ It must be ten o’clock = ‘I think that it’s ten o’clock’ – It can’t be ten o’clock = ‘I don’t think it’s ten o’clock’ + He must have gone home = ‘I think that he’s gone home’
– He can’t have gone home = ‘I don’t think that he’s gone
home’
Exercise 5
Fill in the blanks using must have or can’t have – the first one has
been done for you
1 The front door’s open – I must have left it
2 Dom and Sarah are very late – the car _
3 This kettle doesn’t work – you it up
4 Candace _ – there’s no message on the
Trang 105 The window’s smashed – someone _ a brick
6 Jane looks very happy – Henry her the
7 Fred’s looking guilty – he his
8 The lights are off in that shop – they _
9 Helen doesn’t look very well – she
10 The students all gave the wrong answer – they
Dialogue 5
Dave’s showing off his latest acquisition to Paul.
DAVE: How do you like my new home cinema system?
PAUL: Very impressive Is it easy to use?
DAVE: Yes, it came with full instructions and it was dead easy
to set up
PAUL: Was it expensive?
DAVE: I’ll say! It was the most expensive one in the shop But
I arranged to pay for it over five years
PAUL: Are you glad you decided to buy it?
DAVE: Yes, there’s just one problem to sort out
PAUL: What’s that?
DAVE: I can’t find out how to switch it on
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Idioms
• dead easy means ‘really easy’ or ‘extremely easy’
• I’ll say!/`ɑilsεi/ is a way of strongly confirming what the other
person has just said, or of giving a strong ‘yes’ to a question:
This place is packed out! – I’ll say!
Is Henry very rich? – I’ll say!