Exercises

Unit 32 · must mustn’t needn’t

32.1

Which goes with which

1You must be very quiet.(Example)

You must remember your password.

You must be brave.

You must be on time.

You must leave the furniture as it is.

You must go away.

You must forget what happened.

32.2

Which is correct

1We have plenty of time. We mustn’t / needn’t hurry. (needn’t is correct)(Example)

I have to talk to Gary. I must / mustn’t remember to call him.

I have to talk to Gary. I mustn’t / needn’t forget to call him.

There’s plenty of time for you to decide. You mustn’t / don’t need to decide now.

These are important documents. We mustn’t / needn’t lose them.

You mustn’t / needn’t wait for me. You go on and I’ll join you later.

This is a dangerous situation and we need to be careful. We mustn’t / needn’t do anything stupid.

I understand the situation perfectly. You mustn’t / don’t need to explain further.

a: What sort of house do you want to buy? Something big? b: It mustn’t / needn’t be big – that’s not so important. But it must / mustn’t have a nice garden.

32.3

Complete the sentences

1We have plenty of time. We needn’t leave yet.(Example)

I can manage the shopping alone. You with me.

We all the way home. We can get a taxi.

You can delete these emails. You them.

I’ll be all right. You about me.

32.4

Write two sentences for each situation

Write two sentences for each situation. Use needn’t have in the first sentence and could have in the second (as in the example). For could have•see Unit 27.

1Why did you rush? Why didn’t you take your time? You needn’t have rushed. You could have taken your time.(Example)

Why did you walk home? Why didn’t you take a taxi?

Why did they stay at a hotel? Why didn’t they stay with us?

Why did she phone me at 3 am? Why didn’t she wait until the morning?

Why did you shout at me? Why weren’t you more patient?

32.5

Are these sentences OK

1We have plenty of time. We don’t need hurry. We don’t need to hurry(Example)

2Keep it a secret. You mustn’t tell anybody. OK(Example)

You needn’t to shout. I can hear you perfectly.

I needn’t have gone out, so I stayed at home.

This train is direct. You don’t need to change.

You mustn’t lock the door. It’s OK to leave it unlocked.

I needn’t have said anything, so I kept quiet.

I needn’t have said anything. I should have kept quiet.

Theory