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I know that modals normally don't have past form, but sometimes they have an other way or equivalent verb to cope and to express them in past tense or future tense. For example:

can becomes could in past tense and for the future we use "will be able to...".

My question now is about the modal "must", how can I apply with equivalents for the past and future?

For example:

You must listen to this recording.

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    I just found the answer by a friend. Anyway, I'll leave the question here for others who'll seek this question too.
    – Virtuous Legend
    Commented Feb 3, 2019 at 15:09

2 Answers 2

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You must listen to this recording.

For past*:

had to = must to

You had to listen to this recording.

  • N.b. There's an archaic and very rare past form of "must": mote. It's not common in usage.

For future:

will have to = must to

You will have to listen to this recording.

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  • Actually, do not be surprised that must can be found as past tense - but quite rarely, so for active use I strongly agree to recommend learners use forms of have to.
    – Hagen von Eitzen
    Commented Feb 3, 2019 at 22:00
  • While valid substitutes, these are alternative phrases, not transformations of the word "must." They are transformations of the phrase, "have to." I'm not sure there is an actual form of "must" for these tenses.
    – jpmc26
    Commented Feb 3, 2019 at 22:48
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    must to is a mistake. He must leave now. He must have left by now. He must have left yesterday.
    – Lambie
    Commented May 26 at 15:10
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You may use both "can" and "must" for expressing the future:
You can listen to this recording tomorrow.
You must listen to this recording tomorrow.

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  • I suppose you din't say what would be the past equivalent of "must" because it is in the accepted answer but it's worth pointing out had to = must to is incorrect because the verb that follows must is always in the bare infinitive i.e. had to be = must be. Then there's the speculative past form It had to be Joel driving, it can't have been his brother because he was in summer camp.
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented May 26 at 11:33

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