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All grammar

must and mustn't (rules)

The grammar of rules — and children adore rules they get to announce. You must listen. You mustn't run. Instant classroom law.

From age 8Cambridge level: A1 Movers

Age
Ages 8–11
Level
A1
Skill
Grammar
Format
Teacher guide
More in the libraryWorksheet
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The pattern

Saying it
You must listen.
Saying no
You mustn't run.
Asking
Must I go? (rare)
Short answer
Yes, you must.
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.

  1. You mustn't blank in class.

  2. We must blank quiet in the library.

  3. I must blank my homework.

  4. You must blank a helmet.

  5. You mustn't blank the animals.

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.

You must to listen.You must listen.

Must is a modal — it connects straight to the bare verb. The to habit comes from want to and need to; modals travel lighter.

He musts go.He must go.

Modals never take -s, even for he and she. They are the one corner of English where third person gets no special treatment.

How to teach it

  1. 1

    Write the class rules together, in English, on a poster the class signs. Rules children author are rules children quote — in English, at each other, forever.

  2. 2

    Play rule-or-no-rule with picture cards: pool, library, zoo. Each place demands its must and mustn't; the class supplies them.

  3. 3

    Let mustn't sound dramatic: whisper it, widen your eyes. The emotional colour is real — mustn't is stronger than don't — and drama encodes it.

Topic packs that pair with this

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

SchoolAt the doctorIn townTransportDaily routines

Questions teachers ask

Must or have to first?

Must first: no endings, no do-support, pure rule energy. Have to follows a little later as the everyday twin, and the pair sorts itself out with use.

Is mustn't too strong for a kind classroom?

Aim it at actions, never at children: 'We mustn't push' beside a picture, said as a shared law of physics. Strong grammar can carry a gentle voice.

More from “Building sentences”

present simplepresent continuousin, on, under — where things arewhat, where, who, how many

See all 31 structures