Arrangements

Formal meetings are an essential part of the planning and direction of a company since important decisions about the organisation may be taken. These meetings are held at a specific time, at a defined place (venue) and according to an agreed agenda, which should be sent to the participants at least one week in advance.

Belinda Jenkings, Pawel Janczak and Céline Thierry at Anuga Fair in Cologne. Source: Freestockphotos.biz

Formal meetings are typically led by a chairperson, and the discussions and agreements are recorded in what is known as minutes. One example is the AGM. Most companies organize the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all members of the company. The agenda usually includes the approval of the last AGM, the presentation of the annual accounts for the last financial year, a report from the Management Comittee on the organisation’s activities during the last year, the election of the Management Committee, and other relevant topics.

In some cases, members of a company travel to another country for a formal meeting and they have to stay away for some days. Business tourism can involve individual and small group travel, and destinations can include small to larger meetings, including conventions and conferences, trade fairs, and exhibitions.

Big cities usually have a specific venue to hold fairs and exhibitions. Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, is known for its enterprising and dynamic nature. The city is open to people and to the world and it is an international point of reference both socially and economically. Fairs and conferences take place in Barcelona every year. One example is the Mobile World Congress, a congress on the last technologies related to mobile communication which is held in Fira Gran Via. Other annual fairs and exhibitions go on in the city, such as Construmat, a construction industry fair, and the Saló de l’Ensenyament, with information about universities, courses and all kind of training for students, etc.

The promotion activities of a company often include a business meal with customers or colleagues from other companies. These meals can be more or less formal, depending on the objective of the meal and the people who will attend. If we must organise or attend a formal business meal, it is very important that we are well acquainted with the rules of protocol which have been established for these events. These rules usually include a certain behaviour, the use of formal language and a strict dress code: an evening dress for women and a suit and tie for men. In very formal meals, a dinner jacket for men may be required.

Organising a formal business meal

The organisation implies the sending of invitation letters to the potential guests, the choice of a restaurant and often the choice of a menu. Depending on the degree of formality of the meal, you may also need to consider the setting of the table, which must follow certain rules of protocol.

The elements that compose a table are referred to with the generic term ‘tableware’, a term that includes plates, cutlery and different types of glasses. ‘Cutlery’ is another generic term that includes any kind of hand utensils used in preparing, serving and especially eating the food, although in the USA, ‘cutlery’ refers only to knives and other cutting utensils, whereas the rest of hand utensils are known as ‘silverware’. In the Western cultures, the three major utensils for eating are the knife, the spoon and the fork.

The basic elements of a dinner service include the plate or plates (one on top of the other), the napkin, the spoons, the knives, the forks and the glasses.

The cutlery is placed in order of use. The pieces that are used first go on the outside position and those used last are placed nearest the plate. The napkin is carefully folded and usually placed to the left of the cover or on the plate.

The following image shows the proper setting of a table for a formal meal:

Attending a formal business meal

When attending a formal meal, you must show a distant, but polite attitude. This will give an overall positive impression. You should greet other people by using polite formulas like: Mr Smith, how do you do? Always shake hands. Do not use informal gestures like patting a person’s back, for example, although they may seem more friendly. Do not forget to turn off your mobile phone before you go into the restaurant.

You should think that non-verbal communication can say a lot of things about us, so your behaviour is very important on these occasions. You should wait until everyone is seated at the table and then place your napkin on your lap. If your napkin happens to fall to the floor, you should ask the waiter for a new one. If you are the guest, you should be careful not to order the most expensive items on the menu or to order more than two courses unless your host specifically asks you to do so or the menu has been fixed beforehand.

Once you are sitting at the table, you will be faced with a multi-course meal with lots of different utensils. There is also a protocol that establishes the use of such utensils. You should start with the knife, fork or spoon which is the farthest from your plate and work your way in, using one utensil for each course.

There are two ways to use a knife and fork to cut and eat your food: the American style and the European or Continental style. Either is considered appropriate.

In the American style, food is cut by holding the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left hand with the fork tines piercing the food to secure it on the plate. Once the food has been cut, you have to change your fork from your left to your right hand to eat, with the fork tines facing up.

The European or Continental style is the same as the American style in that you cut your meat by holding your knife in your right hand while securing your food with your fork in your left hand. The difference is that your fork remains in your left hand, the tines facing down, and the knife in your right hand.

After the meal, the correct way of showing that you have finished is to place the knife and fork on your plate in a 4 o’clock position and the napkin on the right-hand side of your table setting.

After the formal business meal

After a formal meal, it is customary to have some sort of follow-up. It is proper business etiquette to send your host a thank-you letter where you express your gratitude for the meal. It is a good way to appreciate the host and to reinforce your interest in a particular business relationship.

These letters do not need to be long or very formal. A few lines focusing on what you value or appreciate about the other person’s effort will be enough. A thank-you letter should be sent as soon as possible after the event.

These letters should ideally include the following information:

• First paragraph: thank the interviewer for taking the time to meet with you (mention the date).
• Second paragraph: restate your interest in the organisation. Mention something you learned from the meeting or comment on something of importance that you discussed. Again, emphasize your strengths, experiences and skills.
• Third paragraph: thank the host for his/her time and consideration. You may want to finish your message with a suggestion for further action and you can also mention that you will provide your phone number and the hours you can best be reach.

Companies usually participate in trade fairs as part of their marketing strategy because fairs are very good to show potential customers what the companies sell or do, to establish business relationships with similar companies and to learn about the latest innovations in the corresponding field of interest. Local governments are usually very interested in trade fairs because they are an excellent means of development and promotion for the city. For this reason, the city councils often become the greatest promoting agents of trade fairs.

There are several types of trade fairs. They can be classified as:

• General trade fairs. These trade fairs exhibit all types of consumer and industrial commodities. They are open to professionals and to the general public. They are good for promotion because the number of visitors is very large, but it is difficult to make good business deals.
• Specialized trade fairs. These fairs are primarily for business exhibitors from various levels of trade and industry. It attracts large numbers of business people, specifically concerned with the area of specialization. For new companies, these fairs offer the best opportunity to find buyers, distributors and retailers.
• Consumer fairs. These fairs are primarily addressed to the general public. They are characterised by the great variety of products exhibited and by the wide interests of the visitors. These fairs are especially appropriate for companies that are already established but wish to promote their products.

According to their geographical range, the trade fairs could be divided into:

• Local fairs. They are especially addressed to the customers from a town and its surrounding area. The participants are usually small businesses whose main objective is to promote local products.
• National fairs. They attract customers and exhibitors from all over the country. The participants are usually medium-sized businesses that seek to expand at a national scale and promote their products and services over a wide public.
• International fairs. These fairs attract professionals from all over the world. They are excellent platforms for companies that wish to expand their businesses to other countries and for multinational companies that want to promote their products at a global scale.

Organising a trade fair

Trade fairs may be organised by a company itself, by the council or by specialised companies whose business is precisely to organise fairs and other events for other companies. In any case, organising a trade fair requires careful planning and systematic decision-making because they often involve a great investment of money. First of all, the organisers must set clear objectives and know in advance the type of products that will be displayed in the fair and, consequently, provide facilities and take into consideration thousands of details.

Here are some guidelines for organizing a trade fair.

1. Before the trade fair:

In the planning stage of the trade fair, the organisers must identify the tasks to be carried out and select the speakers in case speeches have been planned. They must also draw up a detailed budget, including such items as advertising, staff recruitment, space rental, design, construction and dismantling of stands, furniture rental, decoration within the stand, telecommunications and networking facilities, participant accommodations, electrical fitting, stand cleaning, telephone installation, mailing, security, reception, public relations, transportation, food services, first-aid emergency, and giveaway items.

Hotel bookings for the visitors must be placed well in advance to ensure availability. Organisers should negotiate special convention rates and types of rooms, special meals (like religious and disease diets) and registration deadlines. Other issues to consider are the existence and cost of parking facilities, nearby restaurants, points of interest and available transportation to and from the hotel.

Planning a special promotional program for the trade fair is also very important. When the visitors are well identifed, the most common means of advertising the event is by means of invitation letters. To attract the general public, the organisers should consider publication on the local radio, newspapers and television, depending on the importance of the event.

2. During the trade fair:

An important and necessary event at any trade fair is the registration of the exhibitors on the opening day. In order to gain productivity during the whole presence at the trade fair, the exhibitors must pay attention to the promotion and presentation of their company to ensure that potential customers seek their stand in particular.

Most trade fairs also include activities pursued directly within the fairgrounds or outside their boundaries. These activities represent a value added to the participation at the fair. The company’s representatives can participate in presentations or press conferences and can hold lectures at fair-related events. An ideal opportunity for addressing important customers may also be an evening party, as an informal meeting is often more successful for making business contacts than an official meal or an official reception.

3. After the trade fair:

When the fair is finished, it is time for the participants to evaluate the results of the fair and draw conclusions about the objectives reached.

The organisers should:

• Register items to be returned to the respective companies.
• Remove the exhibits from the racks.
• Dismantle the stands safely and without destroying the stand materials.
• Hold a reception on the closing day to facilitate contacts between exhibitors and potential customers.
• Send out press releases as a promotional activity to state the positive results of the participation.
• Draw up a follow-up plan to determine the benefits and help in the organisation of future events.

On the other hand, the exhibitors should:

• Compare invitations with the guest list at the stand.
• Forward a list of post-fair customer appointments to the sales department.
• Write letters to the new contacts.
• Analyse the coverage of the fair in the media.
• Send press releases and feedback questionnaires quickly to the new contacts.
• Set goals for future events.

Anuga Fair

Anuga Fair is held in Cologne. It is a food fair for the retail trade and the food service and catering market. Companies related to food and hotel services summon there to exhibit their products and share their knowledge through the various speeches and workshops. In the fair there are gala dinners, banquets, and buffets giving different choices of menu each day offering the best and most original food combinations.

Belinda Jenkings, Pawel Janczak and Céline Thierry are of some of the attendants of the fair this year. These are their business cards:

Belinda Jenkings works for the Marketing department of the company “Ecotasty Food”. The company develops organic processed products, they do research on organic farming and organize courses and talks on organic products and cooking.

Pawel Janczak is a Polish entrepreneur who has started a venture. He aims to introduce and spread organic farming in his country, and to raise awareness among farmers. He wants to attend the fair in order to see the current trends in the international market.

Céline Thierry lives in the South of France. Since an early age she has been interested in farming and ecology. In addition, she promotes fair trade in her region. She believes that farmers have to be paid a fair price for their goods.

Protocol

Protocol is very important in a business context. It is necessary to be well trained in business meeting etiquette to ensure that a business meeting is effective.

• First of all, a formal invitation has to be sent to the intended guests (see an example in the previous section: invitation mail to the AMM of the company Kdiet).
• Attire also matters; wear casual or formal clothes according to the type of meeting. In very formal meetings or official dinners you will have to dress up.
• Do not interrupt while someone is speaking, wait for the designated question period to raise your questions. Take notes, since some of your questions might be answered by the content of the meeting.
• During formal meetings it is quite usual to interchange business cards for future contact. It is advisable to have them prepared and updated for that day. You may have to wear badges with your name and the name of your company. Badges are quite useful in order to identify other participants in the meeting.
• Avoid nervous habits, such as tapping a pen or your fingers on the table, making noises, or showing disapproval with your body language.
• Turn off your cell phone prior to the start of the meeting. It would be rude to be looking at your smartphone while relevant matters are discussed.
• After the meeting, a thank you letter should be sent to all the participants.

In some cases, we might find ourselves in a group, and there is an uncomfortable silence. It is good to have a strategy to avoid such situations, for example you can discuss about the weather, or other general topics. Here you will see some dialogues which took place in different contexts in the Anuga Fair held in Cologne this year.

At the restaurant

Belinda Jenkings: Hello, we have a reservation for three people.

Waiter: Ok, your name, please?

Belinda Jenkings: Belinda Jenkings.

Waiter: Yes, I see. Would you follow me, please? I will show you your table.

Belinda Jenkings: What is on the menu?

Waiter: We have a special menu for the fair. Here you are.

Céline Thierry: Thank you.

Waiter: Can I take your order?

Céline Thierry: Sure. I would like to start with mixed greens and roasted chicken for the main course.

Pawel Janczac: I’ll have the same.

Belinda Jenkings: What’s the pork loin like?

Waiter: It is very good.

Belinda Jenkings: Well…, then I’ll take a salad to start and pork loin as a second course.

Waiter: How would you like your steak? rare, medium or well done?

Belinda Jenkings: Well done.

Waiter: Anything to drink?

Céline Thierry: We’ll have red wine.

After a business meeting, it is quite common to send a thank you letter. This type of letters should include the following information:

See the following sample:

Suggestions and invitations are two instances of the so called social language. We make a suggestion when we propose a course of action. In this sense, it is very much like giving advice because in both cases we say what we think should be done. The difference is that a piece of advice is always directed to a second person (you) whereas suggestions have a wider range.

An invitation is very similar to a suggestion. When you invite somebody, you are in fact suggesting a course of action.

We can make suggestions in different ways. Some are used in formal situations whereas others are used in informal situations. Next there is a list of some of these expressions.

Making formal suggestions:

A) SUGGEST + GERUND (-ING)

• I suggest speaking in English (Cat. Suggereixo parlar en anglès)
• He suggested talking to the head of our department first (Cat. Va suggerir parlar primer amb el cap del nostre departament).

B) SUGGEST + THAT-CLAUSE

• I suggest that we speak in English (Cat. Suggereixo que parlem en anglès).
• In the next meeting, I’ll suggest that we can finish work earlier (Cat. A la següent reunió, suggeriré que poguem plegar abans).

C) SUGGEST + NOUN

• I suggest a Japanese restaurant (Cat. Suggereixo un restaurant japonès).
• I would suggest a break (Cat. Jo suggeriria un descans).

Making informal suggestions:

A) WHAT ABOUT + GERUND (-ING) …?

• What about speaking in English? (Cat. Què tal si parlem en anglès?).
• What about having a coffee? (Cat. Què et sembla si prenem un cafè?).

B) WHAT ABOUT + NOUN …?

• What about a break? (Cat. I si fem un descans?).
• What about a coffee? (Cat. Què tal un cafè?).

C) WHAT ABOUT IF + YOU/WE + V. IN PRESENT SIMPLE …?

• What about if we speak English? (Cat. Què tal si parlem anglès?).
• What about if you help me with this? (Què et sembla si m’ajudes amb això?).

D) WHY DON’T YOU/WE + BASE FORM …?

• Why don’t we speak in English? (Cat. Per què no parlem en anglès?).
• Why don’t you wait a little longer? (Cat. Per què no t’esperes una mica més?).

E) YOU/WE COULD + BASE FORM

• We could speak in English (Cat. Podríem parlar en anglès).
• You could go and speak to the director (Cat. Podries anar a parlar amb el director).

F) LET’S + BASE FORM …!

• Let’s speak in English! (Anem a parlar anglès!)
• Let’s organize a big party (Organitzem una gran festa!)

Responding to a suggestion:

We can respond in different ways, depending on whether we agree or disagree with the suggestion. In general, all these expressions can be used in formal and informal contexts and they are independent of the way in which the suggestion was made. The translations are not literal, but just reflect equivalent expressions in Catalan used in the same context.

Agree:

• Yes, we could do that (Cat. Sí, podríem fer això).
• Yes, that’s a good idea! (Cat. Sí, bona idea!).
• Ok, let’s do that (Cat. D’acord, endavant!)
• Yes, why not? (Cat. Sí, per què no?)
• Ok, that’s great! (Cat. Excel·lent!)

Disagree:

• I’m afraid it’s not a good idea (Cat. Em temo que no és gaire bona idea).
• I’m afraid we can’t do that (Cat. Em temo que això no és possible).
• I’d rather not (Cat. Millor que no).
• No, we can’t do that (Cat. No, això no ho podem fer).
• No, we shouldn’t do that (Cat. això no ho hauríem de fer).

Here are examples of suggestions in a context.

To invite people, we can use different expressions and syntactical structures.

Making formal invitations:

To make invitations in formal situations, we can use the following expressions:

A) I (WOULD LIKE TO) INVITE + INDIRECT OBJECT + TO + BASE FORM…

• I would like to invite you to go out with me (Cat. M’agradaria invitar-te a sortir amb mi).
• I would like to invite my friends to spend the summer with me (Cat. M’agadaria invitar els meus amics a passar l’estiu amb mi).
• I invite you to come with me (Cat. T’invito a venir amb mi).
• I’ll invite him to sing at my party (Cat. L’invitaré a cantar a la meva festa)

B) I (WOULD LIKE TO) INVITE + INDIRECT OBJECT + TO + NOUN…

• He would like to invite you to a coffee (Cat. A ell li agradaria invitar-te a un cafè).
• I would like to invite you to a party (Cat. M’agradaria invitar-vos a una festa).
• I invite you to a concert (Cat. T’invito a un concert).

Making informal invitations:

C) WOULD YOU LIKE + TO + BASE FORM +…?

• Would you like to have a walk with me? (Cat. Vens a passejar amb mi?).
• Would you like to come? (Cat. Vols venir?).

D) WOULD YOU LIKE + NOUN +…?

• Would you like some help? (Cat. Vols que t’ajudi?).
• Would you like a cold drink? (Cat. Vols una beguda fresca?).

Responding to invitations:

When someone invites you to do something, you can accept or you can reject the invitation.

Here are some possible responses.

To accept the invitation:

• Thank you very much. That would be very nice (formal) (Cat. Moltes gràcies. Serà un plaer).
• Thank you. You’re very kind indeed (formal) (Cat. Gràcies. És vostè molt amable).
• Thanks. That would be great (informal) (Cat Gràcies. Això estaria molt bé).
• Ok, I’d like to. Thanks (informal) (Cat. Sí, m’agradaria. Gràcies).

To reject the invitation:

• I’m sorry. I’m afraid (I’m not free tonight) (Cat: Ho sento. Em temo que [aquesta nit estic ocupat]).
• No, thanks, anyway. (I don’t feel like it now) (Cat. No, gràcies de totes maneres, però [ara no en tinc ganes]).
• Thank you but I can’t. (I must go immediately) (Cat. Gràcies però ara no puc . [Me’n he d’anar de seguida]).

The modal verbs form a class of verbs that have some special characteristics. These verbs are:

• Can
• Could
• Must
• Should
• May
• Might
• Will
• Would

The characteristics of the modal verbs are the following:

1. They have no meaning of their own: modal verbs must always be accompanied by another verb in the base form. They are used to express certain ideas like obligation, possibility, advice, etc.
2. They only have one form, which is normally used to speak about the present and sometimes about the future. If we need to express the modal verbs in other tenses (like the past tense, the present perfect, etc.), we must use an alternative verb or expression. However, the verb can has a present form (can) and a past form (could).
3. The modal verbs form the negative and the interrogative as the auxiliary verbs.

Therefore, the syntactical structures of sentences with a modal verb are these:

• Affirmative: SUBJECT + MODAL + BASE FORM: I should work.
• Negative: SUBJECT + MODAL + NOT + BASE FORM: I should not work.
• Interrogative: MODAL + SUBJECT + BASE FORM: Should I work?

The modal verbs can and could are the present and the past forms, but they may have different meanings.

Can:

Can is used to express:

• Present ability: He can cook. (Cat. Ell sap/pot cuinar.)
• Certain possibility: It can rain. (Cat. Pot ser que plogui.)
• Informal permission: Can I go, please? (Cat. Puc marxar, si us plau?)
• Informal request: Can you open the window, please? (Cat. Pots obrir la finestra, si us plau?)

Could:

Could is used to express:

• Past ability: He could swim. (Cat. Ell podia/sabia nedar.)
• Uncertain possibility: It could rain. (Cat. Podria ser que plogués.)
• Formal permission: Could I go, please? (Cat. Podria marxar, si us plau?)
• Polite request: Could you open the window, please? (Cat. Podries obrir la finestra, si us plau?)

The following table shows the complete conjugation of can.

The table below shows the forms of could.

Alternative forms:

1) To express ability:

Be able to (Cat. ser capaç de)

In this form, the verb be must be conjugated in the correct tense. The syntactical structure is:

• SUBJECT + BE (conjugated) + ABLE TO + BASE FORM: I am able to work.

Examples:

• I haven’t been able to open that box. (Cat. No he estat capaç d’obrir aquesta capsa or Cat. No he pogut obrir aquesta capsa.)
• I would like to be able to do it. (Cat. M’agradaria ser capaç de fer-ho) or Cat. M’agradaria poder/saber fer-ho.)

The modal verbs must and should have similar meanings. We can normally use them in the same context, but we must choose one or the other depending on the idea that we want to transmit.

Must:

Must is used to express:

• Obligation: We must eat to live. (Cat. Hem de menjar per viure.)
• Prohibition (negative): You mustn’t smoke. (Cat. No has de fumar.)
• Predictions: This must be Mary. (Cat. Aquesta deu ser Mary.)

Should:

Should is used to express:

• Advice: You should come. (Cat. Hauries de venir.)
• Moral obligation: We should eat something. (Cat. Hauríem de menjar alguna cosa.)

The table shows the complete conjugation of must.

The following table shows the conjugation of should.

Alternative forms:

1) To express obligation:

have to (Cat: haver de)

• I had to go to the dentist yesterday. (Cat. Ahir vaig haver d‘anar al dentista.)
• Have you had to do anything special? (Cat. Has hagut de fer alguna cosa especial?)

2) To indicate prohibition:

be prohibited/forbidden (Cat. Estar prohibit)

• In the present society, we are being prohibited to do more and more things everyday. (Cat. A la societat actual, cada dia se’ns prohibeix fer més i més coses.).
• We can’t be forbidden to express our ideas. (Cat. No se’ns pot prohibir expressar les idees.)

There are no alternative forms for should.

As with must and should, the meanings of may and might are very similar and they can normally be used in the same way.

May:

May is used to express:

• Possibility: It may rain tonight. (Cat. Pot ser que plogui aquesta nit.)
• Ask for permission (formal): May I take this seat, please? (Cat. Puc agafar aquesta cadira, si us plau?)
• Give permission (formal): You may go now. (Cat. Ja pots marxar.)

Might:

Might expresses:

• Remote possibility: It might rain tonight, but I don’t think so. (Cat Podria ser que plogués aquesta nit, però no ho crec.)
• Ask for permission (very formal): Might I speak to you for a moment? (Cat. Podria parlar amb vostè un moment?)
• Give permission (very formal): You might come in. (Cat. Pot entrar.)

The following table shows the complete conjugation of may.

The table below shows the conjugation of might.

Alternative forms:

1) To express possibility:

Be possible … (Cat. Ser possible…):

• I’ve tried, but it hasn’t been possible to make it work. (Cat. Ho he intentat, però no ha estat possible fer-lo funcionar.)
• We had a meeting yesterday, but it was not possible to reach an agreement. (Cat. Ahir ens vam reunir, però no va ser possible arribar a un acord.)

Will:

Will is used to express:

• The future: I think that it will rain tomorrow. (Cat. Crec que demà plourà.)
• Requests: Will you open the window, please? (Cat. Obriràs la finestra, si us plau?)

Would:

would is used to express:

• Conditional forms: If I had time, I would go. (Cat. Si tingués temps, hi aniria.)
• Polite requests: Would you open the window, please? (Cat. Obriries la finestra, si us plau?)

The following table shows the forms of will.

The following table shows the conjugation of would.

There are no alternative forms to will and would.

These forms are all used to refer to the past. They have different meanings, but the syntactical structure is the same for all of them:

• MUST/SHOULD/CAN’T/MAY HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE

The meanings are the following:

Must have: it means that we are certain that something has happened, and because there is no other logical explanation. For example:

• I can’t see Mr Johnson’s car. He must have left. (Cat. No veig el cotxe de Mr Johnson. Deu haver marxat.)
• Roger has moved to the third floor. He must have got a promotion. (Cat. Roger s’ha traslladat a la tercera planta. Deu haver aconseguit un ascens.)

Should have: it is used to express an action in the past that was not done, but which would have been the best option. Examples:

• You should have told me if you had problems. (Cat. M’ho hauries d’haver dit si vas tenir problemes.)
• They shouldn’t have fired him without a good reason. (Cat. No l’haurien d’haver acomiadat sense una bona raó.)

Can’t have: it is very similar in meaning to must have. It is used when we are certain that something has not happened because there is no other logical explanation:

• He can’t have met Mr Black because he was not in the city last night. (Cat. No pot haver-se trobat amb Mr Black perquè ahir a la nit no era a la ciutat.)
• She didn’t eat anything. She can’t have been so hungry as you say. (Cat. No va menjar res. No pot haver tingut tanta gana com dius.)

May have: it is used to say that it is possible that something happened in the past. Examples:

• Mr Simpson has not arrived yet. His flight may have been delayed. (Cat. El Sr Simpson encara no ha arribat. Es pot haver endarrerit el vol.)
• Nobody answers the phone. They may have closed down the office. (Cat. No contesten al telèfon. És possible que hagin tancat l’oficina.)

These forms have the following syntactical structure:

• DON’T HAVE TO + BASE FORM
• DIDN’T HAVE TO + BASE FORM

The verb don’t have to is actually the negative form of the modal verb must, whereas didn’t have to is the negative form of had to (past tense of must).

In accordance with this, these forms are used in these cases:

Don’t have too: it is used to say that there is no obligation of doing an action in the present or in the future. For example:

• Tomorrow is Sunday. You don’t have to come to the office. (Cat. Demà és diumenge. No cal que vinguis al despatx.)
• You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. (Cat. No és necessari que m’ho diguis, si no vols.)

Didn’t have to: it is used to say that there was no obligation of doing an action in the past. For example:

• This present is too expensive. You didn’t have to give me anything. (Cat. Aquest regal és massa car. No era necessari regalar-me res.)
• We didn’t have to spend so much money. (Cat. No calia gastar-se tants diners.)