The future of “must” in English

As you know, we use “must” to express necessity or obligation in the present. “Must” is a modal verb, therefore it does not have an infinitive form. Because of this, the auxiliary verb “will” cannot precede “must”. We express necessity or obligation in the future with the verb “to have to”.

For example: I will have to

Will have to – Obligation

Let’s see some examples to see how to use “wil have to” to express obligation.

I will have to wait until Thursday to go to the cinema

You will have to study more than that to pass the exam

The structure is the same for all persons and we can use the contracted forms of “will”. For example:

I‘ll have to wait

You‘ll have to study

Also, remember that we use the future with “will” in conditional sentences. Look at this example:

If he fails his exam, he‘ll have to repeat the year

Will have to – Negative

Ok, now let’s have a look at some examples of “will have to” in the negative form.

Using the negative form of “will” is very simple: we make the auxiliary verb “will” become “won’t”. For example:

She won’t have to worry about working anymore, now that’s she’s won the lottery.

The kids won’t have to go to school tomorrow, it’s a holiday!

Will have to – Interrogative and short answers

In questions the auxiliary “will” goes before the subject. For example:

Will you have to go to China again?

What will she have to do in her new job?

For short answers, we use the auxiliary “will” or “won’t” depending on whether the answer is positive or negative. For example:

Yes, I will.

No, he won’t.

By watching ABA Films, you will practice your listening comprehension. Record your voice and compare phrases to improve your pronunciation and gain fluency by interpreting different roles. You will also learn new vocabulary and review the unit’s grammar lesson.