have to (what life demands)

I have to go to school, she has to feed the cat — the everyday twin of must, for duties that come from the world rather than the rule-maker.

From age 10Cambridge level: A1 Movers

Age: Ages 10–11
Level: A1
Skill: Grammar
Format: Teacher guide

The pattern

Saying it: I have to get up early.
Saying no: I don't have to go.
Asking: Do you have to wear a uniform?
Short answer: Yes, I do. / No, I don't.

Printable worksheet Presentation (PPT)

Sentences a child can say

Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.

Mini exercise: choose the right word

Five sentences from this page, each with a word missing. A child taps the word that fits and, once it is right, hears the whole sentence.

She blank to feed the cat.
We blank to wear a uniform.
I blank to get up at seven.
blank you have to do homework?
You blank have to shout.

What you will actually hear

The mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one, with a tag on those a first language makes typical.

She have to go.She has to go.

Have to is NOT a modal — it is ordinary have wearing a duty hat, so she and he bend it to has. The contrast with must is the whole lesson.

I mustn't go = I don't have to gomustn't = forbidden; don't have to = optional

The famous trap: the positives twin, the negatives split. Mustn't slams a door; don't have to opens one. Teach the negatives as opposites, never as a pair.

How to teach it

1
Compare mornings: 'I have to get up at 6. My cat doesn't have to get up at all.' Envy of the cat is the fastest route to the meaning.
2
Interview jobs: a firefighter, a baker, a teacher — what does each have to do? Job cards generate has-to sentences by the dozen.
3
Celebrate don't have to: list the class's freedoms ('We don't have to cook! We don't have to drive!'). Grammar that delivers good news teaches itself.

Topic packs that pair with this

Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.

Daily routines Jobs School Pets At home

Questions teachers ask

Must or have to — which do natives actually use?

In speech, have to wins for duties and must survives mostly in rules and signs. Teach both honestly: must for the poster on the wall, have to for the story of your morning.

Is the mustn't / don't have to contrast really Flyers material?

Receptively, yes — it appears in Flyers reading. Productively it can wait: a child who says 'You don't need to' instead has solved the problem beautifully.