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WORD GRAMMAR
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Verb
- Conjugation in indicative
- Person and number
- Tenses
- Voice
- Mood
- Verb categories
- Valency
- Semantic categories of verbs
- Finite / non-finite verb forms
- Noun
- Adjective
- Adverb
- Article
- Pronoun
- Preposition
- Conjunction
- Particle
- Interjection
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Verb
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SENTENCE GRAMMAR
- Clause types
- Complex clauses
- Constituents of a sentence
- Sentence structure
- Word order in a sentence
- Negation
Modal verb müssen
Expressing lack of necessity or prohibition
The negation of müssen expresses a lack of necessity, particularly in reference to the meaning of the infinitive. In this case, nicht müssen can be replaced by nicht brauchen. The infinitive takes the word zu.
When müssen expresses a request/command (which, in a broader sense, is also a necessity) through negation (i.e. a prohibition or an order not to do something), it can be substituted by nicht sollen or nicht dürfen.
affirmation
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negation
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Du musst ihn benachrichtigen. |
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necessity
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lack of necessity
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Du musst ihn nicht benachrichtigen. | |
Du brauchst ihn nicht zu benachrichtigen. | ||||||
request/command
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prohibition
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Du sollst ihn nicht benachrichtigen. | |||
Du darfst ihn nicht benachrichtigen. |
These two verb pairs, that express lack of necessity or prohibition, differ as far as their intensity is concerned.
prohibition
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lack of necessity
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intensity
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nicht sollen
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nicht brauchen
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+
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nicht dürfen
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nicht müssen
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+ +
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