Tài liệu A complete English language course part 22 doc

12 You can’t be
serious!
In this unit you will learn how to:
• talk about what you and others have to do
• say that you’re not sure about something
• talk about possibilities and probabilities
• use the
TO
-
FORM
after different types of word
Dialogue 1
Tim and Paul are getting ready to go to Henry’s birthday party.
T
IM
: Can we stop at the shop on the way, Tim?
P
AUL
: Do we have to? We’ve got to get there by eight, and
it’s a quarter to already.
T
IM
: I have to get him a present – a bottle of wine or some-
thing.
P
AUL
: I’ve already bought him a present.
T
IM
: Well you must be more organised than me, then,
mustn’t you?

Dialogue 2
Tim and Paul are at a party, trying to identify people.
T
IM
: Is that Fiona over there?
P
AUL
: It can’t be – she had to go to London this weekend.
T
IM
: Well who is it, then?
P
AUL
: It might be Suzie – she looks a bit like Fiona at a
distance.
T
IM
: No – I’ve just seen Suzie in the bar.
P
AUL
: Well it must be someone else, then, mustn’t it?
T
IM
: Shall we go and introduce ourselves?
P
AUL
: Can’t do any harm, can it?
Dialogue 3
Everyone’s in the pub, but Mike’s leaving early.
M

IKE
: OK, everyone – I’m off!
P
AUL
: Off? You can’t be serious – it’s not even eight o’clock!
M
IKE
: I told you earlier – I’m expecting a phone call from
my sister in Australia, and she may call tonight.
P
AUL
:[looks at his watch and does some mental arithmetic]
But it must be the middle of the night down there!
M
IKE
: No, it’s early morning. She might phone before she
goes to work. See you all tomorrow.
P
AUL
: See you, Mike.
Language point 71 – obligation
There are three ways of talking about obligation (when someone
must do something) in colloquial English:
have to
have got to
must
1111
2
3
4

5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1211
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34

35
36
37
38
39
40
41
4211
195
Idioms
• a bit like means ‘quite similar’
• at a distance means ‘not near’
•(It) can’t do any harm means ‘Nothing bad will happen if we do it’
Idioms
• I’m off means ‘I’m going now’
Here are some examples using all of these:
have to
I ’ve got to do the shopping
must
has to
Dave ’s got to work all day tomorrow
must
have to
we ’ve got to go home now
must
Must is not so common in colloquial English – have to and have got
to are more usual.
Notice that, if we use have to, we never use the
SHORT FORM
:

We have to go now not ‘We’ve to go now
’
Pete has to go now not ‘Pete’s to go now
’
but if we use have got to we don’t normally use the
LONG FORM
in
statements:
We’ve got to go now not ‘We have got to go now
’
Pete’s got to go now not ‘Pete has got to go now
’
Pronunciation
have to is always pronounced /`hftə/
(or /hftυ/ before vowels)
has to is always pronounced /`hstə/
(or /hstυ/ before vowels)
The past tense of both have to and have got to is had to /`httə/ or
/`httυ/:
PRESENT
I have to phone my brother later
PRESENT
I’ve got to phone my brother later
PAST
I had to phone my brother yesterday
not ‘I had got to phone my brother yesterday
’
196
And here’s how we make questions:
Statement Question

PRESENT
You have to phone. → Do you have to phone?
He has to phone. → Does he have to phone?
You’ve got to phone. → Have you got to phone?
He’s got to phone. → Has he got to phone?
PAST
You had to phone. → Did you have to phone?
He had to phone. → Did he have to phone?
But notice that at the end of Dialogue 1 Tim does use must:
You must
be more organised than me
not ‘You have to be more organised than me
’
Here, must is correct, and have to/have got to is wrong, because Tim
is not talking about obligation – he’s using must to show that he
assumes something is true, or that he is fairly certain that something
is true. We will learn more about this in Language point 72.
Exercise 1
Match the two halves of each sentence – the first one has been done
for you.
1 The car’s broken down so I’ve a have to speak louder.
2 There’s a power cut so we b has to wait.
3 The train’s late so everybody c got to phone the garage.
4 Dave’s run out of money so he d have to do it again.
5 We’re late so we e got to walk to work.
6 I can’t hear you so you f have to use candles.
7 The buses are on strike so I’ve g have to hurry up.
8 Their homework is wrong so h has to go to the bank.
they
1111

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
1211
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
4211
197
Exercise 2
Change the statements into questions, and vice versa. The first one
has been done for you.
1 Dave’s got to go now.
Has Dave got to go now?
2 We had to show our passports.
____________________ ?
3 I’ve got to sign the form.
____________________ ?
4 Do the children have to pay?
____________________ .
5 Did they have to pay by cheque?
____________________
6 Greg had to do the work.
___________________ ?
7 Have Keith and Carl got to play a song?
___________________ .
8 I have to have my picture taken.

___________________ ?
9 We’ve got to leave early.
___________________ ?
10 Did Gerry have to work late?
___________________ .
Language point 72 – possibility and
certainty
We use the
AUXILIARIES
can, might and must to say how ‘certain’
(or not) we are of something. In Dialogue 1 Phil says:
it can’t be = it isn’t
possible
it might be = it is
possible
it must be = it is fairly certain
And in Dialogue 2 Paul and Mike use these auxiliaries in longer
sentences:
198