must

CEFRA1

/məst/

modal verb · noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    modal verb

    Used to say that something is necessary or required.

  2. 02

    noun

    Something that is necessary or very important.

Examples

  • Seeing that you're not surprised, I think you must have known.

  • We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish together as fools.

At a glance

Sits at A1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
3
Citations
5
Synonyms
2

Also pronounced

  • /məs/

Deep Dive

modal verb

Extra meanings

  1. To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.

  2. Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.

More examples

In context

  • All visitors must report to reception.

  • Everybody told me I must stop worrying, but I couldn't, because I felt there must be something wrong.

  • This door handle must be rotated fully.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The contract says we blank deliver the goods by Monday with no excuses.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

modal verb

From Middle English moste ("must", literally, "had to", the past tense of Middle English moten (“to have to”)), from Old English mōste (“had to”), 1st & 3rd person singular past tense of mōtan (“to be allowed, be able to, have the opportunity to, be compelled to, must, may”), from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną. Cognate with Dutch moest (“had to”), German musste (“had to”), Swedish måste (“must, have to, be obliged to”). More at mote.