We don’t must | Imamother

amother

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:37 pm

I keep seeing this phrase on this site. Anyone know the origin? It doesn’t seem like proper grammar. Instead, you can try saying “We don’t have to…”

amother

Hawthorn

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:40 pm

It doesn't seem correct, but come to think of it, I can't exactly figure out why.

shabbatiscoming

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:42 pm

Its probably a yinglish phrase that came about somehow Smile

amother

Dustypink

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:42 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

I keep seeing this phrase on this site. Anyone know the origin? It doesn’t seem like proper grammar. Instead, you can try saying “We don’t have to…”

I think it comes from the yiddish translation "men miz nisht"

enneamom

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:43 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Its probably a yinglish phrase that came about somehow Smile

Oh well, needs must.

amother

Hawthorn

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:44 pm

What kind of word is "must"? Why do we say "we must" but not "we do must" or "we will must"?

hodeez

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:46 pm

When I would tell my immigrant mother "do I have to?" She would say "no,you must to" lol. She thought that was a stronger word 😂

amother

Hawthorn

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:52 pm

amother [ Hawthorn ] wrote:

What kind of word is "must"? Why do we say "we must" but not "we do must" or "we will must"?

The more I think about it, the less it makes sense. Why do "we don't can" and "we don't should" not make grammatical sense? What is the rule?

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:52 pm

amother [ Hawthorn ] wrote:

What kind of word is "must"? Why do we say "we must" but not "we do must" or "we will must"?

It's a modal verb.

amother

Almond

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:52 pm

hodeez wrote:

When I would tell my immigrant mother "do I have to?" She would say "no,you must to" lol. She thought that was a stronger word 😂

Well it is, just without the "to"! (no, you must)

amother

Hawthorn

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 6:54 pm

BrisketBoss wrote:

It's a modal verb.

But why do modal verbs work this way?

BrisketBoss

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 7:00 pm

amother [ Hawthorn ] wrote:

But why do modal verbs work this way?

They're not regular verbs, they provide information about regular verbs and they aren't inflected. The environment they appear in is always right in front of a verb. (In 'You must!' the verb was brought earlier.) They cannot appear right after another auxiliary verb, like 'should' or 'will.' This is all based on observed rules of syntax.

amother

Valerian

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 8:18 pm

shabbatiscoming wrote:

Its probably a yinglish phrase that came about somehow Smile

Yiddish is my first language and I never heard or saw this.

fbc

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 8:26 pm

I had a co-worker who grew up in Argentina and then Israel (both for a significant amount of time). She always used this phrase. I think it's what happens when you're trying to translate from a variety of other languages Smile

Goody2shoes

Mon, Jun 14 2021, 9:19 pm

I think people will use it to sound impressive while it actually doesn't.