Need can either act as a modal verb or as an ordinary Needn’t / don’t need to
verb. When it acts as a modal verb it is nearly always used in We can use both needn’t and don’t need to to give
negative sentences: permission to someone not to do something in the
immediate future. We can also use need as a noun here:
You needn’t cook dinner.
I am not hungry. You don’t need to water
the garden this evening.
Although it is sometimes also used in questions as a modal: It’s raining.
You needn’t water the
Need I say more? I would like you to stay. garden this evening. It’s raining.
There’s no need to water the garden this evening.
When it is used as an ordinary verb with to It’s raining.
before the following infinitive and with an s in However, when we are talking about general necessity,
the third person singular, it appears in both we normally use don’t need to:
affirmative and negative sentences and in
questions: You don’t need to be rich to
He doesn’t have a fever. He needs get into this golf club.
a drink. He needs to eat something.
He doesn’t need to stay in bed but he
should have a good rest. - Do I
need to stay with him? - Yes, I think
you should.
Needn’t have / didn’t need to
Both these forms are used to talk about past events, but there is sometimes a difference in use. When we say that
someone needn’t have done something, it means that they did it, but it was not necessary. Didn’t need to is also
sometimes used in this way:
You needn’t have washed the dishes. I would have put them in the dishwasher.
You didn’t need to wash the dishes. I would have put them in the dishwasher.
But we also use didn’t need to to say that something was not necessary under circumstances where it was not done:
The sun came out so we didn’t need to take any rainwear on the trip.
Choose the correct answer
1. You _________ do it if you don’t want. 4. We ___________ to do it.
a - do not need a – don’t need
b – need not b – needn’t
c – either could be used here c – either could be used here
2. I didn’t bother to confirm it because they said we _________ 5. I need __________ to the bookstore.
once we’d got the tickets. a – go
a – didn’t need b – to go
b – didn’t need to c – going
c – needn’t have 6. I ___________ anymore trouble.
3. I spent hours doing it and then they told me I ___________. a – needn’t
a – didn’t have bothered b – don’t need
b – didn’t need to bother c – either could be used here
c – needed bothering
Key
1. b
2. b
3. a
4. a
5. b
6. b