Need to
From Teflpedia
Need to is an English lexical-grammatical structure.
Meaning[edit | edit source]
Need to expresses obligation,
The meaning is slightly different to have to, though there are contexts in which either have to or need to can be used.
Form[edit | edit source]
The following are typical forms:
- I need to do something.
- She needs to do something.
- I don’t need to do something.
- She doesn’t need to do something.
- Do you need to do something?
- Does she need to do something?
- I needed to do something.
- Did you need to do something?
- I didn’t need to do something.
- Didn’t you need to do something? = Did you not need to do something?
[Language analysis note: With other forms, this can get a bit complicated.]
Pedagogy[edit | edit source]
Need to is usually acquired by English language learners sometime after they have learnt have to. As such, they can scaffold the grammar of need to onto have to.
