Must and may Compared

E.g.You must come andsee us when you're in London. You must stopworrying about your son. You mustn'tgive another thought to what he said. You mustn't miss the film. It is very good. You must have your hair cut. It's much too long. You mustn't cry.

Emphatic advice,

This meaning is found in affirmative and negative sentences
and is closely connected with the two above mentioned meanings.

4) supposition implying strong probability,

e.g. He must be ill. He looks so pale.

It must be late as the streets are deserted.

Must in this meaning is found only in affirmative sentences.

In Russian this meaning is generally rendered by means of the
attitudinal adverbs вероятно, должно быть.

In English this meaning may also be expressed by means of the
attitudinal adverb probably.

In this meaning must may be followed by different forms of
the infinitive. If reference is made to the present, the Continuous
infinitive is used with dynamic verbs.

e-g. The book is not on the shelf. Jane must be reading it.
Let's have something to eat. You must be starving.

If must is followed by the simple infinitive of dynamic verbs,
it expresses obligation.

e-g. Jane must read the book.
You must stay here.

However, with stative verbs the simple infinitive is used to
express supposition.

e.g. He must be over fifty.

He must know all about it as he has read a lot on the subject.

Must in combination with the Perfect infinitive refers the ac-
tion to the past.

e.g. Do you see him smoking over there? He must have finished

his work.
It is six o'clock. She must have come home.

The combination of must with the Perfect Continuous infini-
tive indicates an action begun in the past and continued into the
moment of speaking.

e.g. It must have been raining all the night. There are big pud-
dles in the garden.

However, if must is followed by a stative verb, the Perfect in-
finitive is used.

e.g. He must have been here since breakfast.
He must have known it all along.

Note. Occasionally the combination of must with the Perfect Continuous infini-
tive may express an action going on at a given past moment.

e.g. He must have been writing a letter when I came.

When must expresses supposition implying strong probability,
its use is restricted in two ways:

a) It is not used with reference to the future. In this case we
find attitudinal adverbs in the sentence.

e.g. He will probably come tomorrow.
He will evidently know all about it.

b) It is not used in the interrogative or negative form. It is
found only in the affirmative form.

Note. To express supposition implying strong probability with negative mean-
ing, in addition to attitudinal adverbs, the following means are employed:

e.g. He must have failed to get in touch with her.
He must have misunderstood you.
He must be unaware of that.
He must never have guessed the truth.

No one must have told him about it.

§ 90. Note the following set phrases with must.

a) Must needs denotes obligation.

e.g. He must needs go there. (Он непременно должен пойти туда.)

b) / must be going and / must be off both mean 'it is time for
me to go* (in Russian Мне пора уходить).

c) / must tell you that... and / must say... are stereotyped
phrases in which the meaning of obligation is considerably weak-
ened in must.

d) In the sentences: You must come and see me some time.
You must come and have dinner with me. You must come to our
party. You must come and stay with us for the week end and the
like, the meaning of obligation in must is also weakened. Must
has become part of such sentences which are a common way of ex-
pressing invitations.

§ 91. Must and мaу can be compared in two meanings:

1) Both may and must serve to express supposition but their use
is not parallel. May denotes supposition implying uncertainty where-
as the supposition expressed by must implies strong probability.
Cf. For all I know, he may be an actor. His face seems so familiar.

He must be an actor. His voice carries so well.

I saw him an hour ago. He may still be in his office now.

He always comes at 10 sharp. So he must be in his office

now.

2) May and must are used to express prohibition in negative
sentences. But may is seldom found in this meaning. In negative
answers to questions with may asking for permission we generally
find must not or cannot.

e.g. "May I smoke here?" "No, you mustn't (you can't)."

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