Timeline for Using "must" for certainty
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 9 at 23:01 | comment | added | OrangeDog | That usage of "must" sounds very 19th Century. The sort of phrasing you might find in a Brontë novel. | |
| Nov 9 at 1:13 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Nov 8 at 20:05 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | You're just confusing the issue by switching to Present Perfect, where there's no conditional element. | |
| Nov 8 at 20:04 | comment | added | Lambie | @FumbleFingers The two go together. It must upset him that you (have) told him that. I'd say it is actually not grammatical as written. | |
| Nov 8 at 20:01 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | ...if you keep telling learners that non-idiomatic constructions are syntactically invalid, they'll end up thinking it's impossible to learn the principles of English syntax, because there's so little consistency. That does them no favours. | |
| Nov 8 at 19:57 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | @Lambie: Rubbish. It's perfectly grammatical, just no longer idiomatic. Because there are so many false positives, it's not easy to find examples from a couple of centuries ago, but they certainly exist. And the relevant "rules of grammar" haven't changed - just the idiomacy. ... if you do , it must cost you remorse and sorrow | |
| Nov 8 at 19:40 | comment | added | Lambie | @FumbleFingers This: If you give Angelo the news now it must upset him. is not idiomatic and also not grammatical. | |
| Nov 8 at 19:29 | answer | added | James Mathai | timeline score: 3 | |
| Nov 8 at 17:48 | comment | added | FumbleFingers | The cited usage is syntactically valid, and does convey the meaning you want - it's just not idiomatic. The standard way of indicating "emphatic certainty" in such contexts is: If you give Angelo the news now it's bound to upset him, so tell him later on. Well, that's "standard" in informal conversational contexts. In formal contexts you might consider ...it is certain to... or ...it will surely... | |
| Nov 8 at 17:42 | vote | accept | Ola | ||
| Nov 8 at 17:26 | answer | added | Friendly Racoon | timeline score: 5 | |
| Nov 8 at 17:25 | history | edited | Barmar | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Nov 8 at 17:10 | history | asked | Ola | CC BY-SA 4.0 |