Must + infinitive and have + to-infinitive (or have got to) can express certainty or logical necessity:
There must have been some misunderstanding.
You have to be joking!ALSO: You’ve got to be joking!
The bombing’s got to stop sometime.
It is (almost) certain that the hostages will be released.
Many people will certainly/necessarily/inevitably lose their jobs.
~ Many people are certain/sure/bound to lose their jobs.
Inevitably, some changes will take place.
The contrasting relation between possibility and certainty can be seen in:
She’s over ninety, so
her father must be dead.
~ her father can’t still be alive.
~ it is impossible that her father is still alive.
~ it is certain that her father is dead.
All four sentences have in effect the same meaning.
289 • Questions:
Does there have to be a motive for the crime?
~ Is there necessarily a motive for the crime?
• Negation:
Strikes don’t have to be caused by bad pay (they can also be caused by bad conditions, etc.).
Strikes are not necessarily caused by bad pay.
There’s no need to be upset. You don’t need to worry about it.
Note
The modal auxiliary need (484) is used <esp in BrE> in place of must in questions and negatives:
You needn’t wait for me. (‘It is unnecessary …’)
However, this use of need is not common, and need to + infinitive or have to + infinitive can be used instead: You don’t need/have to wait for me. Must is rare in questions. The following example is ironic:
Must we have slurping noises?
290 • Past time: We have to distinguish a past certainty (had to) from a certainty about the past (usually expressed by must + the perfect):
Don’t worry. Someone had to lose the game. (‘It was necessary, by the rules of the game, for someone to lose.’)
John must have missed his train. (‘It appears certain that John missed his train.’)
• Hypothetical: You can use have to in the past tense or with would:
If I had to choose, I’d prefer this job to any other.
You would have to be brilliant, to win a prize.
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292
Prediction and predictability will, must)
As already seen (see 288), must often expresses a feeling of certainty when we draw a conclusion from evidence. On hearing the phone ring, someone might say
That must be my daughter. (= ‘I know that she is due to phone at about this time, and I therefore conclude that she is phoning now’)
In a similar way, you can use will to express a ‘prediction’ about the present (just as you can use will to make a prediction about the future – see 141):
That will be my daughter.
There is little difference here between must and will:
They will have arrived by now. (ALSO: They will have arrived by tomorrow.) T he y must have arrived by now. (BUT NOT: *They must have arrived by
tomorrow.)
This sort of prediction with will often occurs with conditional sentences:
If you are full, you won’t need any pudding.
If you pour boiling water on ordinary glass it will probably crack.
Will can also be used in a habitual sense, to express the idea of ‘predictability’ or
‘characteristic behaviour’:
Accidents will happen. (a saying)
A lion will attack a human being only when it is hungry.
We have noted (see 130) the equivalent use of would to express habitual or characteristic (‘predictable’) behaviour in the past:
She would often go all day without eating.
Probability (should, ought to, etc.)
The auxiliaries should and ought to (see 483) can express ‘probability’; they are weaker equivalents of must (= ‘certainty’). Compare:
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Should is more frequent than ought to. Other ways of expressing probability are:
It is quite probable/likely that they didn’t receive the letter.
He is probably the best chess player in the country.
They have very likely lost the way home. (Here likely is an adverb.) The concert is likely to finish late. (Here likely is an adjective.)
• Negation: Improbability can be expressed by shouldn’t, oughtn’t to, or it is improbable/unlikely that:
~ It is unlikely that there will be any difficulties.
• Questions (not common):
Is there likely to be any difficulty in getting tickets?
Note
Must and will (see 291), as well as adjectives like sure, are sometimes used in a weakened sense that one feels is nearer to ‘probability’ than to ‘certainty’. This is because people have a natural tendency to overstate their convictions:
You’ll be feeling hungry after all that work.
They must have spent years and years building this cathedral.
I’m sure that they can all be trusted.
Attitudes to truth
We now consider the ways in which people may be committed or uncommitted to the truth or reality of something. The people concerned may be the speaker (‘I’) or another person, or a group of people. To express such attitudes, we often use:
• a that-clause: I know that his answer will be ‘No’.
• a wh-clause: I know what his answer will be.
• Sometimes adverbials, e.g. obviously, without doubt:
Without doubt, she is one of the best teachers in the school.
• Other constructions, such as the type of parenthetical clauses we call
294
295
comment clauses (see 499), e.g. They can all be trusted, I hope.
Note
In <impersonal> style, people prefer to use the methods of expressing certainty, probability, etc. discussed in 288–92, rather than those which involve a 1st person pronoun. Thus It is certain … and It is unlikely … can be impersonal alternatives to I am certain … or I doubt …
Certainty
Polly knew (that) she was being watched.
You know what I’m like: I hate a big fuss.
I’m certain/sure (that) the party will be a success.
It is obvious/clear/plain (to us all) that he has suffered a great deal.
~ He has clearly/obviously/plainly suffered a great deal.
We don’t doubt that he is honest.
~ We have no doubt of his honesty.
Doubtless it doesn’t always rain at Barnard Castle: that’s just the way it seems.
Doubt or uncertainty
Doubt is the opposite of certainty:
I am not certain/sure/convinced that he deserves promotion.
~ I am not certain/sure whether he deserves promotion.
They were uncertain/unsure (of) who was to blame.
I doubt if many people will come to the meeting.
~ I don’t think many people will come to the meeting (see 587).
There were some doubts about your pricing policy.
We have doubts about the risks everyone is taking.
They were uncertain of/about the best course to take.
Belief, opinion, and similar meanings
296 • Belief, opinion
I believe (that) the lecture was well attended.
~ The lecture was well attended, I believe.
She thinks (that) she can dictate to everybody.
It was everybody’s opinion that the conference was a success.
It’s my belief that global warning will lead to widespread shifts of population.
In my opinion, he was driving the car too fast.
You may consider yourselves lucky. The hurricane could have wrecked your house. (On the use of an object complement here, see 508, 733.)
She was thought/believed/considered to be the richest woman in Europe.
Tag questions ( see 684), especially with a falling tone, can be used to express an opinion:
He was driving too fàst, wàsn’t he?
Note
There is a slight difference between ‘opinion’ and ‘belief: an opinion is usually something that someone arrives at on the basis of observation and judgement:
It’s my belief that he drinks too much. (‘I don’t know how much he drinks, but
…’)
It’s my opinion that he drinks too much. (‘I know how much he drinks, and in my judgement, it’s too much.’)
• Assumption
We assume/suppose that you have received the package.
All the passengers, I presume, have been warned about the delay.
~ All the passengers have presumably been warned about the delay.
I guess I’m a kid at heart. <informal, AmE>
Will in the sense of ‘present prediction’ (see 291) can be used here:
I assume you will all have heard the news.
• Appearance
It seems/appears (to me) that no one noticed his escape.
297
~ No one seems/appears to have noticed his escape.
~ Apparently, no one noticed his escape.
I t looks as if he’s ill. <rather informal> (Here looks may refer to visual appearance only.)
Note
Like can replace as if in the last example in <informal AmE>. In <BrE> this use of like as a conjunction is less acceptable.
In that-clauses of the types shown in 296 above, transferred negation (see 587) is common. Thus instead of I think he hasn’t arrived, we prefer to say I don’t think he has arrived.
Notice that in shortened reply statements of these three categories, the clause which is the object of belief, etc. can usually be replaced by so (see 386):
(Here so replaces ‘(that) the race has been postponed’.)
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