mustn't
/ˈmʌsnt/
phrase
  1. must not; used to indicate that something is forbidden or, in a tag question, that something is not necessary.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. More at Wordnik
🌐
Merriam-Webster
merriam-webster.com › dictionary › mustn't
MUSTN'T Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
mustn't · ˈməs-ᵊnt · : must not · Love words? Need even more definitions? Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!
🌐
EF English Live
englishlive.ef.com › en › blog › language-lab › english-grammar-use-must-mustnt
English Grammar: when to use ‘must’ and ‘mustn’t’ | EF English Live
The opposite is ‘must not’ or ‘mustn’t’. We use this to talk about thinks we need to avoid doing. For example ‘I mustn’t drink too much beer at this party’. In this sentence, we can see that I don’t think it is a good idea ...
🌐
Wiktionary
en.wiktionary.org › wiki › mustn't
mustn't - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
“You mustn’t go” means you must stay, but “you needn’t go” means you do not have to go, with the implication that you still may if you wish.
🌐
Quora
englishforstudents.quora.com › What-is-the-difference-between-mustnt-and-dont-have-to
What is the difference between “mustn't” and “don't have to”? - English for Students - Quora
"Mustn't" is a contraction of "must not," and it is used to express that something is prohibited or forbidden. For example, "You mustn't smoke in this area" means that it is not allowed to s...
Find elsewhere
🌐
Woodward English
woodwardenglish.com › home › modal verbs › mustn’t vs. don’t have to
Mustn’t vs. Don’t Have To | Woodward English
October 12, 2018 - You have the choice to drink that or not. However Mustn’t is an obligation NOT to do something, in this case NOT to drink that.
🌐
Stack Exchange
ell.stackexchange.com › questions › 273894 › mustnt-vs-neednt
modal verbs - mustn't vs needn't - English Language Learners Stack Exchange
How to distinguish use cases of these verbs? Mustn't is a negative form of modal verb. We should use when something prohibited. You mustn't talk in the library. Needn't it's regular verb with negat...
🌐
WordReference
forum.wordreference.com › english only › english only
"Mustn't" - Does anyone actually use this word? | WordReference Forums
December 26, 2006 - I think they were referring to Bush/Americans, even though they said 'English people'! ... mustn't have understood what we were saying. = I conclude that he didn't understand what we were saying. The "mustn't" here is "epistemic": that is, it relates to the speaker's view of the truth of the statement.
🌐
Quora
quora.com › Is-using-the-word-“mustnt”-verbally-correct
Is using the word “mustn't” verbally correct? - Quora
Answer (1 of 8): Yes. It can be used correctly in some context.If there is a prohibition by the authorities regarding doing something, then it can be used i.e. The students mustn’t wear casuals tomorrow. But it can not be used everytime as negative form of must. For example for certainty, logic...
🌐
Test-English
test-english.com › explanations › a2 grammar explanations › have to, don’t have to, must, mustn’t
have to, don't have to, must, mustn't - Test-English
May 18, 2025 - You don’t have to pick me up at the station. I can take a taxi. (=You can pick me up, but you don’t need to do it). Use mustn’t to talk about something that you can’t do.
🌐
Longman
ldoceonline.com › dictionary › mustn-t
mustn’t | meaning of mustn’t in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmustn'tmust‧n’t /ˈmʌsənt/ FORBIDthe short form of ‘must not’ You mustn’t tell Jerry what I’ve bought.
🌐
Englishgrammar
englishgrammar.pro › must-not
must not | mustn’t – English Grammar Profiler
The term “mustn’t” is a contraction of “must not”. It is used to indicate that something is prohibited or not allowed, or to suggest that it is a bad or unacceptable idea.
🌐
Medium
medium.com › mr-plan-publication › mustnt-and-needn-t-why-you-should-know-the-difference-6e463fc68f05
Mustn’t and Needn’t | Why You Should Know the Difference
December 4, 2024 - You can tell John what I said but he must keep it a secret . You mustn’t do means that it is necessary that you do not do something.
Top answer
1 of 4
3

Per my comment, I'd avoid it because it sounds rather dated and "upper class" to me.

Semantically, the reason for avoiding this construction is simply that it takes the focus off the critical word not. Since the "conclusion" clause is intended to convey something along the lines of "I am failing", this negating word is vital to the sense.

In "injunctive" forms, such as "You must/mustn't do that!", the word must is invariably stressed, to emphasise the intended meaning. In OP's usage, the word must wouldn't normally be stressed, because there's no sense of injunction or stricture (except loosely, in the sense that there's a logically enforced conclusion). It's "not doing it right" that counts, which requires not to be vocalised.

To confirm this particular contraction is nonstandard, note just 3 instances of "I mustn't be doing" in Google Books, but 3830 for "I must not be doing" (almost all for the sense relevant here).

2 of 4
2

I personally find the use of the contraction "mustn't" to be a bit off-putting in this case, but I certainly would have no problem expressing an argument this way:

If John had stolen the money, he would have gotten ink on his fingers when the dye-pack exploded.

John doesn't have ink on his fingers.

Therefore, John must not have stolen the money.

Substituting "can't" for "must not" is valid here, but wouldn't be my natural formulation.

(Generally in this situation, the word not has the same stress as the word must, which is why using a contraction there would sound strange to me.)

The same holds true for situations like this:

"It's supposed to work when I do this!"

"You must not be doing it right".

In that case, saying "You can't be doing it right" would sound very unnatural to me. Or, at the very least, like a Briticism.

I tend to think of "mustn't" as a single lexical unit meaning "must avoid", so if someone said "You mustn't be doing it right", I would first think that they were trying to prevent me from doing it the "right" way.

🌐
Dictionary.com
dictionary.com › browse › mustn't
MUSTN'T Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
Mustn't definition: contraction of must not.. See examples of MUSTN'T used in a sentence.
🌐
Quora
quora.com › Mustnt-or-musnt-which-one-is-correct
Mustn't or musn't, which one is correct? - Quora
Answer (1 of 7): It’s “mustn’t.” You might not think so based on hearing people pronounce it out loud, because it’s nearly impossible for anyone to pronounce the “t” in the middle. It’s spelled “mustn’t” and you’ll hear people pronounce it “mussn’t.” It’s even ...