Expressing One's Own Obligations, with
～なければならない
I have to ...

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The ～なければならない (or, more formally, ～なければなりません) structure is one that needs to be learnt as a chunk. It simply means "have to ..."

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A note to help you make sense of this extremely useful phrase:

• It's made up of two parts: ～なければ ("if I don't ～") plus ならない／なりません (things won't go well for me... loosely translated!)​
• It's generally used to talk about one's own personal obligations, rather than someone else's. 

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An example to whet your appetite:

ぼくは、日本語のしけんに　ごうかくしたいので、毎日べんきょうしなければなりません。

• I want to pass my Japanese exam, so I have to study every day. (Tom!)

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Forming the structure:

To form the first half (the ～なければ bit):

• Begin with a verb in the plain form negative. E.g. しない (I don't do); やらない (I don't do); 行かない (I don't go)
• Remove the final い and replace with ければ
• So しない becomes しな＋ければ (if + I don't do); やらない becomes やらな＋ければ (if + I don't do); 行かない becomes 行かな＋ければ (if + I don't go). (Obviously, you don't need the plus sign in between...)​

To form the second half (the ならない or なりません bit).

• Simply add ならない or なりません, depending on the level of formality you want.
• Which gives you しなければなりません・やらなければなりません (both mean "I have to do"); 行かなければなりません ("I have to go")

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Some more examples to get excited about!

家にかえったら、いぬのえさを　やらなければなりません。

• When I get home, I have to feed the dog. (えさをやる = feed an animal)

雨がふっていても、いぬのさんぽを　しなければならない。

• Even if it's raining, I have to walk the dog. 

You can use it in the past tense, too.

きょ年の夏休み、りょうしんの仕事を　てつだわなければなりませんでした。

• Last summer holidays, I had to help with my parents' work. 

日本に行ったとき、日本語しか　話さなければならなかったです。

• When I went to Japan, I had to speak only Japanese. 

食事がきらいでも、ぜんぶ食べなければなりませんでした。

• Even if I didn't like the food, I had to eat everything. 

PRACTICE "NAKEREBA NARIMASEN" ON QUIZLET