EnglishGrade 6ages 11–12
⚠️ must / can
Must means something is necessary and can means someone is able — two different ideas that a child can easily swap, especially since Hebrew glues a 'to' onto the verb where English uses none.
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Download on the App StoreWhat your child learns
- must = have to / need to: I must drink water.
- can = able: I can jump.
- must does not mean maybe. maybe means perhaps.
- Hebrew says must to-drink with the to glued on. After must there is no to at all.
The mistake most kids make here
Treating must as maybe, or swapping must and can.
Try one question
We need to drink. Which is right?
Need to
- I can drink
- I must drink
- I must to drink
Answer
I must drink — That's it. I must drink — must then a bare verb.
How Maya teaches it
Your child tells Maya what they did in class. She teaches this topic at her desk, asks questions with tappable answers, and when the answer is wrong she explains why that answer was tempting instead of saying “try again”. She remembers what did not land and comes back to it.
Your child has it when they can: Say I must drink and I can jump.
How to help at home
Must means need to or have to: 'I must drink water' means drinking is necessary. Can means able to: 'I can jump' means jumping is possible.
Must does not mean maybe — that's a common confusion. Maybe expresses uncertainty; must expresses necessity.
After must, the verb comes directly with no to: 'I must drink,' never 'I must to drink.' This trips kids up because Hebrew attaches to right onto the verb.
A good sign they've got it: they use must for things that are necessary and can for things they're able to do, without adding an extra to after must.
Questions parents ask
- Why does my child say 'I must to drink' instead of 'I must drink'?
- In Hebrew, the equivalent of to is attached directly to the verb, so a child's direct translation adds an English to that shouldn't be there — must is followed straight by the plain verb.
- What's the difference between must and can?
- Must means something is necessary or required. Can means someone is able to do something. They express different ideas and aren't interchangeable.
- Does must mean the same as maybe?
- No — must means necessity, something that has to happen. Maybe means uncertainty, something that might happen. They're opposites in a sense.
- How does Maya teach this?
- Maya gives a real situation, like needing to drink water, and asks the child to choose the correct sentence from options, so they practice must without the extra to in context.
No card needed. The first lesson is free.
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Sources: English Curriculum 2020 for elementary school – Israeli Ministry of Education