Present Positive Negative

have to -(strong) obligation coming from

outside(speaker’s authority).
E.g: (situation)
A teacher tells her students: “You have to do
exercises 5 and 6 for tomorrow. “

Then, a student tells her friend: We must do

exercises 5 and 6 for tomorrow. “

*Always used in questions (never must)

-no obligation (lack of obligation)

don't have to E.g.: I don't have to work on Sundays.
(You don't have to work on Sundays, but if
you did it would be just fine).

-necessity (things which are necessary

or obligatory)
need to
I need to go to the toilet (benefit for you).
Need=me

-lack of necessity
don’t need to / E.g.: I don’t need to water the flowers. My
needn’t + inf. brother has done it for me (but if you want
without to to…)

-obligation (official, written rules)

must E.g.: You must wear a seatbelt when you
drive.

-obligation (personal opinion)

E.g.: I must study more.

-duty/strong moral obligation

E.g.: You must respect your parents.

-(very) strong recommendation

E.g.: We must get together for dinner soon.
E.g.: You must visit DC when you are in the
US.

-emphasise necessity (often

general/universal truths)
E.g.: Plants must have light and water to
grow.

-prohibition
mustn’t E.g.: You mustn't smoke here.
E.g.: You mustn’t use your phone while
driving.
 -asking for permission
E.g.: Can I sit here, please?
can
-giving permission
E.g.: You can use my phone.

-request (less polite than could)

E.g.: Can you pass the butter, please?

-refusing permission
can’t (cannot) E.g.: You can’t drink any coffee.

-you are given permission to do

be allowed to something
E.g.: Catherine is allowed to drive her car
because she has already come of age.

-you are not given permission to do

not be allowed to something
E.g.: Catherine is not allowed to drive her
car because she has not come of age yet.

-you are expected to behave in a

be supposed to
particular way according to a rule or a
law
E.g.: You’re supposed to keep your seat
belt on during the flight, but I took mine
off.

-when we see something as a problem or

as impossible (questions)
E.g.: How am I supposed to get to work on
time if the train is always late?

-to criticise someone’s performance

E.g.: He can’t sing in tune. He is supposed
to be a professional singer, isn’t he?

not be supposed to -you are expected not to behave in a

particular way according to a rule or a
law
E.g.: You’re not supposed to drive over 50
m.p.h. in a town.

should / ought to / -recommendation / advice

had better E.g.: She should wear a suit to the interview.

-personal obligation (wearker)

E.g.: I should save more money each month.
 -asking for advice
E.g.: Should I buy this dress? What do you
think?

shouldn’t -advise not to do something (usually because

oughtn’t to it is bad or wrong).
had better not E.g.: He shouldn’t play with those wires if he
doesn’t know what he is doing.

Past Positive Negative

had to -obligatory or necessary
E.g.: I had to wear a school uniform when I
was a child.

didn'thave to -not obligatory or necessary

E.g.: We didn't have to go to school on
Saturdays.

needed to -obligatory or necessary

E.g.: I needed to wear a school uniform
when I was a child.

-not obligatory or necessary, so you

didn’t need to didn’t do anything
E.g.: He got better and didn’t need to
go to the doctor.

needn’t have + -not obligatory or necessary, but

past participle you did it
E.g.: Thanks, but you needn’t have
brought me wine.
was / were allowed -given permission to do something
to (never could) E.g.: He was allowed to receive visits.

-prohibition
wasn’t / weren’t E.g.: He wasn’t allowed to / couldn’t sit down
allowed to / couldn’t during the lesson.

should / ought -to criticise past actions or to say

have + past they were a mistake
participle E.g.: You should have called me when you
arrived (it didn’t happen).

-to criticise past actions or to say

should not have + they were a mistake
past participle
E.g.: John shouldn’t have left late, then he
would have caught the 9.00 a.m. train.