@richyrocksenglish 4 fun examples of how must can be used in the past #fypシ゚ #yourpage #english #vocabulary #englishcoach #englishpractice #ingles #vocabularioeningles #must #pastmodals ♬ original sound – richyrocksenglish
like the tiktok says, must, like all the past modals is tricky for english learners to apply correctly. but fortunately, christmas entertainment has provided four memorable examples of past modals. remember that must in the past expresses the greatest probability or the most logical explanation, NOT obligation.
- there are many, many representations, parodies, adaptations, etc. of charles dickens‘ a christmas carol, especially the main character in the novel, ebenezer scrooge. scrooge has evolved into a word used to describe somone who resists the christmas spirit or has a negative attitude about celebrating christmas.
8 versions of scrooge
this clip from the 1951 version of a christmas carol shows a repentant ebenezer scrooge (played by alastair sim) waking up on christmas morning after having been visited by three spirits who showed him the consequences of his “christmas is a humbug” attitude.
he is unsure how much time has passed and fears he may have missed christmas day. when he realizes that he hasn’t, he says (at :33) that
the spirits must have done everything in one night. of course. they can do anything, can’t they? of course they can.
they can do anything, can’t they? is a tag question.
the spirits must have done everything in one night!
- the famous christmas song frosty the snowman tells the story of a snowman who magically comes to life to play with a group of children one december afternoon.
the lyrics of the song offer this explanation as to how it happened at :27
there must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found
i don’t know why i can talk and dance, must be the hat.
- it must’ve been ol’ santa claus by harry connick jr describes a boy’s christmas eve sleigh ride with santa. but was it real? on christmas morning when his parents tell him the window in his room blew open overnight (was forced open by the wind during the night) he tells them it must’ve been the cat. but then the family realizes that the boy has santa’s big red hat, thus the title of the song 🎅🏽
- buck owens‘ christmas carol santa looked a lot like daddy has two examples.
the song is written from the perspective of a boy who is skeptical about several details of santa’s visit to his house. the chorus says…
well, he didn’t come down the chimney
so mama must have let him in
and in the second verse (1:20), after explaining that he didn’t see any of santa’s reindeer or his sleigh, he concludes
but he sure brought a lot of presents
so santa claus he must have been
if he’s bringing a bunch of presents, he must be santa. no further questions
the boy wasn’t sure what happened, but the way he understands it is that probably his mama let santa in the house, and because he left a lot of presents, it had to be santa, not his daddy.
can u give an example (christmas or otherwise) of how to use must in the past? what do u think about these xmas carols? are they on your playlists this holiday season? share your comments under leave a reply
