Basics: Must and Have To - Obligation
This challenge contains 12 questions at easy difficulty covering Basics: Must and Have To - Obligation. Test your knowledge with a mix of question formats!
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Complete the stressed student's morning reminders by dragging the correct words into the blanks.
I must remember to buy coffee before my morning lecture. The syllabus says that everyone has to complete the online quiz before class begins.
I must remember to buy coffee before my morning lecture.
The modal verb must is followed directly by a base verb (like remember). If we wanted to use have, we would need to include "to" (I have to remember).
The syllabus says that everyone has to complete the online quiz before class begins.
The pronoun "everyone" is singular, so it requires the singular verb form has to. "Have to" is plural, and "musts" is not a real word (modal verbs never take an -s ending!).
Help the dramatic knight understand his king's orders by choosing the correct phrase.
"You ___ the dragon before sunset, or we won't have a fire to roast our royal marshmallows!"
The correct answer is must defeat.
The modal verb "must" is always followed directly by a bare infinitive (the base form of the verb without "to"). "Must to defeat" and "must defeating" are grammatically incorrect.
The correct answers are has to and don't have to.
When using "have to" for external obligations or routines, the verb changes to match the subject. For the third-person singular ("he"), we use has to.
Note: "Must" never takes "to" after it, making "must to" grammatically incorrect.
The correct answers are must, have to, and have got to.
All three of these options correctly express strong obligation or necessity for the pronoun "you".
Have got to is a slightly more informal (but perfectly correct) way to say have to.
"Must to" is incorrect because modal verbs are followed by a bare infinitive (no "to"). "Has to" is incorrect because it is only used for third-person singular subjects (he/she/it).
Select the grammatically correct question for this grumpy teenager.
"___ wear this extremely itchy sweater to Aunt Martha's party?"
The correct answer is Do I have to.
When asking a question about an obligation with "have to", we use the auxiliary verb "do" or "does" (e.g., "Do I have to?"). "Must" can be used in questions without "do" (e.g., "Must I wear...?"), but we never say "Do I must" or "Must I to".
The correct answers are must and has to.
"Each student" is a singular subject (he/she/they).
We use the singular form has to instead of "have to".
Must is a modal verb, which means its form never changes regardless of the subject (so "musts" is not a real word!). Both correct options express a strong obligation or rule.
Help the unlucky driver finish his text message to his friend by dragging the correct verbs into the blanks.
Yesterday, my car broke down in the rain, so I had to walk three miles to work! At least I didn't have to pay for parking.
Yesterday, my car broke down in the rain, so I had to walk three miles to work!
Because this happened "yesterday," we need a past tense verb. The modal must does not have a past tense form, so we always use had to for obligations in the past.
At least I didn't have to pay for parking.
To express a lack of obligation in the past (something that wasn't necessary), we use didn't have to. "Must not" cannot be used for the past tense.
The correct answers are mustn't and don't have to.
We use mustn't (must not) to express a strict prohibition—something you are absolutely not allowed to do.
We use don't have to to show a lack of obligation—meaning you can do it if you want, but it is not required.
The correct answers are had to and had to.
The modal verb "must" does not have a past tense form. To talk about an obligation or necessity in the past, we always use had to.
Complete the frustrated college student's text message to their mom.
"It's so unfair! My roommate never cleans, so our poor robot vacuum ___ do all the work."
The correct answer is has to.
Because "our poor robot vacuum" is a third-person singular subject (it), we must use "has to" instead of "have to" to express obligation. "Must to" is always incorrect because "must" never takes "to".
Help the new gym member understand the rules by dragging the correct phrases into the blanks.
You must not wear outdoor shoes on the basketball court, because the dirt will ruin the wood. However, you don't have to bring your own towel, because the front desk provides them for free.
You must not wear outdoor shoes on the basketball court, because the dirt will ruin the wood.
We use must not (or mustn't) for strict prohibitions—things you are absolutely not allowed to do. "Doesn't have to" is grammatically incorrect for the pronoun "you".
However, you don't have to bring your own towel, because the front desk provides them for free.
We use don't have to when there is no obligation. It means bringing a towel is not necessary, but you can if you really want to!
The correct answers are You must wash... and You have to wash...
Both must and have to are used to express strong obligation in the present tense.
"Must" is a modal verb and is never followed by "to" (so "must to" is incorrect).
"Have to" changes to "has to" only for third-person singular subjects (he/she/it), so "you has to" is incorrect.
Modal verb
If you've ever struggled with the difference between You must do this (strong command) and You should do this (advice) — or It might rain (possible) and It will rain (certain) — you've felt how much modal verbs do in English. They're how the language signals certainty, obligation, possibility, and politeness, and getting them right is what stops your speech from sounding either pushy or wishy-washy.
A modal verb is an auxiliary — can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would — adding meaning around ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always followed by the bare infinitive (can swim, never can to swim), and never inflected for person.
Questions
If you've ever asked You like coffee? with rising intonation and gotten a confused look — you've felt the gap between casual and grammatical English questions. Many languages form questions with intonation alone, but English usually requires inversion (Are you ready?) or do-support (Do you like coffee?). Skip the structure and your questions sound like uncertain statements.
Questions in English use inversion of subject and an auxiliary (Can she dance?) or do-support when no auxiliary is present (Does the milk go in the fridge?). Yes/no questions, wh-questions, negative questions, and tag questions all share this machinery.
Negation
If your native language uses double negatives (I don't see nothing) — like Russian, Spanish, or French — you've probably been told this is wrong in English and not been entirely sure what the fix is. Standard English uses one negative per clause: either I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, never both. Once you internalise that single rule, your written English clears up a lot.
Negation in English uses not after an auxiliary or modal verb: I am not going. Without an auxiliary, you add do-support (I do not go). Negative words like never and nobody already negate the clause — adding not on top creates non-standard double negatives.
English Grammar Basics
If grammar feels like a tangle of rules you can never quite remember, the fix isn't more advanced material — it's making the foundations automatic. The English Grammar Basics tag is where you do that: the building blocks every other topic stands on. Get these right and the rest stops feeling random.
It marks quizzes and explainers covering the core of English: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, tenses, voice, mood, and basic sentence structure. Useful whether you're a beginner or refreshing rusty knowledge.
A2 | Elementary | Pre-intermediate
If you can order coffee, ask for directions, and tell someone what you did yesterday — but struggle the moment the conversation drifts into anything abstract — you're operating at A2. Knowing this matters: A2 is the level where most learners plateau because they reach for B2 material too early and burn out. Stay here and your foundations get unbreakable.
A2 is the elementary level in the CEFR framework, covering routine communication and the first wave of real grammar: past simple and continuous, present perfect, basic modal verbs, first conditional, and common verb-pattern rules.
Difficulty: Easy
If a textbook leaves you confused, sometimes the issue isn't the topic — it's that the practice material is layered with extra complications. Filtering by Easy strips that away. You get one rule at a time, in plain everyday language, with no trick questions. It's how you make a shaky foundation solid before stacking more on top.
The Easy difficulty tag marks beginner-level questions and challenges — typically A1 or early A2. Single-rule focus, short sentences, common vocabulary, one clear correct answer.