must not vs do not

Yuppie · #1 (permalink) Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:04 am *must not vs do not*

Hi,

Can "must not" be used in the place of "do not" as in:

You must not know how much I love you, instead of:
You do not know how much I love you?

If not, what does the 1st statement imply? Does it make sense in English?

Thanks

Alan · #2 (permalink) Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:14 am *must not vs do not*

Hi Yuppie,

I would suggest: 'You can't possibly know'. 'You must not know' suggests 'You are not allowed to know'. 'You must know' suggests that it is surely clear that you do know but when you change that to 'You must not...', the meaning reverts to: 'You are not allowed to ...'

Alan
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Yuppie · #3 (permalink) Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:24 am *must not vs do not*

Thank you so much, Alan.

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