Hoy os dejamos unos “truquis” para utilizar los modales de obligación “must & have to” y también cómo expresar falta de obligación (lack of obligation) con los modales don’t have to, don’t need to, didn’t need to. Vamos allá!

HAVE TO / MUST

We use these verbs to say that is necessary to do something, but there are some differences:

Have to
The speaker is just giving facts. Or there’s an «outside authority» who tells you to do something.
E.g. I have to complete the report for our client.

We can use “have to” in all verb tenses.

Must
The speaker thinks is necessary, feels is his responsibility to do something.
E.g. I must finish all these paperwork today.

We only use “must” in the present tense, to express obligation in other tenses we use “have to”.
E.g. I had to finish all the paperwork last Friday.
I will have to finish all the paperwork before Friday.

DON’T HAVE TO / MUSTN’T

When used in the negative form, they mean different things:

Don’t have to /don’t need to
It means is NOT necessary that we do something.
E.g. You don’t have to bring anything.
They don’t need to bring anything.

Mustn’t
It means is necessary NOT to do something. (it’s an obligation not to do something).
E.g.He mustn’t talk to us like that.
You mustn’t tell anyone.
We mustn’t be late for the meeting.

DIDN’T NEED TO / DIDN’T HAVE TO DO

We use didn’t need to / didn’t have to meaning that something was not done because it was not necessary.
E.g. We didn’t need to call the technical services, we just fixed it ourselves.
They didn’t need to work until late. We still have time until deadline.
I didn’t have to prepare a cake, but they all appreciated it.

Parece mucho pero en realidad son tres cositas, te las resumimos:

-Must / have to > obligación, sobre todo “have to” que se puede utilizar en cualquier tiempo verbal

-Mustn’t > obligación de NO hacer algo (o prohibición de hacer algo)

-Don’t have to / don’t need to (y sus formas en pasado) > falta de obligación, o lo que es lo mismo, no es necesario hacer algo.

Esperamos que te sirva de ayuda 😉

El verbo suggest en inglés tiene truco porque construimos las frases de una manera diferente a la que usaríamos en español. Te contamos cómo usar el verbo suggest correctamente en inglés. Toma nota!

A la hora de usar el verbo suggest, hay varios puntos que hay que tener en cuenta al construir las frases, porque con este verbo hay varias estructuras que son correctas, pero a su vez diferentes de cómo construiríamos la frase en español. Observa primero estos ejemplos con el verbo suggest

 They suggested me to accept the job offer.
 They suggested that I (should) accept the job offer.

 He suggested us to wait for an answer.
 He suggested waiting for an answer.

 I suggested them a good restaurant in the area.
 I suggested a good restaurant in the area.

 He suggested us a solution to the problem.
 He suggested a solution to the problem (to us).

Ahora vamos a ver paso a paso cómo usar el verbo suggest correctamente en cada uno de los casos, verás que no es difícil, pero hay que prestar atención.

Usamos suggest that + subject + verb +…

e.g.
I suggest (that) you leave early to avoid traffic jams.
He suggested (that) we visit them during summer holidays.
They suggested (that) I accept the job offer.

En general, podemos omitir (that) siempre que el significado quede claro.
En el último ejemplo además, si el verbo suggest va en pasado, podemos también usar should y decir

e.g.
They suggested (that) I should accept the job offer.
I suggested (that) you should think carefully before taking a decision.

Usamos suggest + -ing
es decir, el verbo suggest es uno de esos verbos que si van seguidos de otro verbo, éste segundo verbo va en gerundio (-ing) y no con “to” (infinitivo)

e.g.
He suggested waiting for an answer before making a decision.
Our doctor suggests doing exercise everyday.
Tina suggests meeting for a drink after work.
He suggested visiting them during summer holidays.

Podemos usar suggest + noun

e.g.
I suggested a good restaurant in the area.
He suggested a solution to the problem.

Si no queda claro en el contexto, podemos añadir a quién se le realiza la sugerencia, pero con “to”, es decir

e.g.
He suggested a solution (to us).
I suggested a good restaurant (to him).