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1) I know that, to express something that you must do, you can use 方{ほう}がいい and, for a stronger feeling, べき.

2) I am also aware you can use conditionals like 〜なくちゃ、〜なきゃ、〜ないと to express that you need to do something.

Though I understand the difference between 方がいい and べき, and I somewhat understand the differences in 〜なくちゃ、〜なきゃ、and 〜ないと, I don't understand the difference between those two groups. I don't understand the difference between 1 and 2.

Is there some sort of nuance I'm missing? Also, is there a difference between something you need (by yourself) versus what you're obligated to do (by society or rules or something)?

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  • So what I'm getting is that べき and 方がいい are more of things that are good for you to do, and なくちゃ and the rest are things which would be bad if you were to not do them. Sorry if the wording is cryptic, because I'm trying to avoid an English way of wording things (to me, "should" and "must" are the same in meaning, with one sounding more formal/strong than the other). Is this correct?
    – Rypt
    Dec 13, 2019 at 13:03
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    Please try to avoid writing answers in the comment section. Feel free to post answers, but please do so with actual answer posts.
    – user1478
    Dec 13, 2019 at 16:26

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