Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use must in a sentence

40 example sentences · verb, noun

Must means to do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence. Example: “You must arrive in class on time.”

Examples of must by meaning

verbTo do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the...

  • You must arrive in class on time.
  • This door handle must be rotated fully.
  • Everybody told me I must stop worrying, but I couldn't, because I knew that somehow there was still something wrong about the situation.

verbTo do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.

  • If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
  • Where would you have put the keyring? You couldn’t have lost it again! - I must have, because it's nowhere to be found.
  • I said it must be pretty late and I really must go.

verbUsed to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.

  • The children must be asleep by now.
  • There's the doorbell. It must be Dad.

nounSomething that is mandatory, required or recommended.

  • If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
  • "There are no musts in my life - I'm free, white, and twenty-one."1932, Helen Vinson, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang

More sentences with must

  • I can’t find my reading glasses, but they must be somewhere about the house.From the entry about
  • I had my keys just a minute ago, so they must be about somewhere.From the entry about
  • The derivative of a continuous, differentiable function that twice crosses the axis must have a zero.From the entry zero
  • I don’t know how many books are in the library, but they must number in the thousands.From the entry number
  • It must be broken, because I pressed the button and nothing happened.From the entry because
  • Good ranchers must continually keep watch over the health of their stock.From the entry stock
  • If the citizens must follow the law, then the government must follow the constitution.From the entry government
  • For the U.S. President to be impeached, he must be accused of a high crime or misdemeanor.From the entry accuse
  • I'm feeling peckish; I think it must be nearly dinner o'clock.From the entry o'clock
  • She suddenly felt strange. She realized her drink must have been drugged.From the entry drug
  • You say that all men are born equal, but here I must disagree with you.From the entry here
  • I'd like to continue my story, but here is where I must stop.From the entry here
  • The perpetrators of this heinous act must be brought to justice.From the entry heinous
  • One must pit a peach to make it ready for a pie.From the entry pit
  • In order to destroy evil, we must first acknowledge its existence.From the entry existence
  • We must try to save our marriage for the sake of our children.From the entry our
  • All contestants must register for the footrace: we've arranged numbers for them all.From the entry all
  • The man must answer to his employer for the money entrusted to his care.From the entry answer
  • Here's the measurement – the ribbon must be that long, no longer and no shorter.From the entry that
  • That player must be hacking, they got so many kills last game.From the entry hack
  • That car must be worth a fortune! How could you afford it?From the entry fortune
  • You must be touched if you think I'm taking your advice.From the entry touch
  • At the start of their turn, each player must draw a card.From the entry draw
  • It's already 5:30? My watch must have lost a few minutes.From the entry lose
  • Wooden garden furniture must be well oiled as it is continuously exposed to weather.From the entry weather
  • It pains me to say that I must let you go.From the entry pain
  • We must preserve the family unit if we want to save civilisation!From the entry family
  • An officer must account with or to the treasurer for money received.From the entry account
  • Some people blame God for their troubles, but one must outgrow such notions.From the entry outgrow
  • Gregor Mendel must have spent a good amount of time outside of his cell.From the entry cell

Meaning of must

  1. verb To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
  2. verb To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
  3. verb Used to indicate that something is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.

Full definition of must

Questions about must in a sentence

How do you use must in a sentence?
Must is used as a verb and noun. For example: “You must arrive in class on time.”
What is a short sentence with must?
“The children must be asleep by now.”
What does must mean?
Must means to do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: must (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use must in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/must. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.