Responsibilities and Obligations
Must and Have to
Must - Strong Personal Obligation
Use 'must' in the positive form to speak about strong personal obligations that you feel are crucial at the moment of speaking.
You must demonstrate recent account activity.
I must object to the cash flow statement.
Have to - Responsibilities
'Have to' is used to indicate responsibilities at work. Use 'have to' to talk about daily responsibilities and obligation in general. 'Have to' is often confused with 'must'. The main difference is that 'have to' expresses obligation to work, family, friends, etc. 'Must' is used to indicate strong personal obligation that is felt at the moment of speaking.
'Have to' differs from other modal forms. 'Have to' is conjugated and followed by the base form.
Positive Form:
You have to give a down payment.
Negative Form:
I told the client "You don't have to overdraw your account if you are short at the end of the month if you have one of our credit cards."
Question Form:
They have to make a down payment of $20,000 on the house.
Had to
When speaking in the past, there is only one way to express obligation: 'Had to' We use 'had to' when we speak about past responsibilities and strong personal obligations.
Example:
Susan had to revise the balance sheet last week.
I had to forfeit the interest accrual when I made an early withdrawal.
Must vs. Have To
'Have to' expresses everyday responsibilities at work, or for family and friends. 'Must' is only used for strong personal obligations.
Example 'Have to' for Responsibilities:
You have to count the cash at the end of day before you begin your audit of receipts.
You have to give a down payment.
Example 'Must' for Strong Obligations:
You must demonstrate recent account activity.
I must object to the cash flow statement.
The difference between 'have to' and 'must' in the negative is extreme. 'Not have to' signifies a lack of obligation. 'Mustn't', on the other hand, signifies prohibition. The past form of both 'must' and 'have to' is 'had to'
Example 'Have to' for No Obligation:
I told the client "You don't have to overdraw your account if you are short at the end of the month if you have one of our credit cards."
We don't have to capitalize this industry yet.
Example 'Mustn't' for Prohibition:
We mustn't default even a single day to pay our bank draft to avoid penalties.
You must not be careless about the capital assets.