Improve your English today at ANGLOPOD.COM. Hi everyone, I’m Dan and today we’re going to look at the difference between HAVE TO and MUST in English. They are both very common modal verbs that we use to express obligation. But is there a difference? And what is the difference? Let’s find out…

Let’s start with a simple example. You can say “I HAVE TO do my homework” or you can say “I MUST do my homework” and it is clear that this is something that needs to be completed. There is an obligation here. That’s why we use these two modal verbs, HAVE TO and MUST. But there is a difference.

The difference is between external and internal obligation. If you say “I HAVE TO do my homework”, the obligation is external. This means it comes from outside, from someone else, not from you. “I HAVE TO do my homework” because my teacher told me to do it or my parents expect me to do it. Not because I want to do it. “I HAVE TO do my homework”.

But if you say “I MUST do my homework”, this means the obligation is internal. It comes from inside, it comes from me. “I MUST do my homework” because it’s important to me. I want to do it because I want to learn or I want to pass my exams.

One important note. There is no past form of MUST, so we just use HAVE TO in the past. HAD TO. “I MUST do it”, present; “I HAD TO do it”, past. The same with questions. You can’t use MUST with question words, so use HAVE TO again. Just say “Do you HAVE TO do it?”, which is present, or “Did you HAVE TO do it?”, which is past.

OK, what would you say now? “I HAVE TO practise English” or “I MUST practise English”? Go to ANGLOPOD.COM and tell us in the comments! See you soon!

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