Things You Have to Do – The Work Page

at Library of Congress

What do you do?

What do you do?
means:
What is your job?
or
What do you do for a crust?

“Right now” or “Monday to Friday”?

“What do you do?”
means:
“What do you do from Monday to Friday?”
and
“What are you doing?”
means:
“What are you doing right now at this minute?”
What are you doing right now?

The Employment Page

Positions Vacant
Are you looking for a job?
Work Wanted
Do you need staff?

Work Vocabulary

Have you ever worked as a taxi driver?
Have you ever worked as … ?

Work Discussion

Let’s talk about work.
Work Discussion Topics

Tell us about your job!

“Have to” and “want to”

I want to go out but I can’t because I have to go to bed early because I have to get up early and go to work tomorrow morning.

I want to watch television but I can’t because I have a test tomorrow and I have to study for it.

“Have to” and “need to”

They are used pretty much interchangeably:

I have to find a job.
I need to find a job.

“Need to” is a bit stronger.
Be aware of verb combination:
Sometimes we think we have to do something but we don’t really need to do it.
We need to breathe. We need to eat. We need to drink.
We think we need to buy expensive things but we don’t really have to. We just like to.
Here are some more ways to describe things you have to do:

have to
ought to
should
must

I have to go to work.
I must go to work.
I ought to go to work.
I should go to work.

We have to work to make a living but we get used to it and we develop a routine.
Positions Vacant
Work Wanted
The Obligation Page (coming soon)