"Need" as a modal verb

L

luqo33

Member
Poland, Polish
Hello,

I have been always taught that the verb 'need' can be treated as either a modal verb or a "normal" function verb. Following this rule, is it correct to say:

1) Need you any help?
2) We need drink some water.
3) He need some sugar.

To be honest, they sound bad to me. On the other hand, If I am allowed to treat 'need' as a modal verb, then presumbly, I can use inversion to form question, and I don't have to add -s in the third person singular... Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thank you for your comments.
 
    • A modal verb governs another verb: if 'need' has a noun phrase object as in 1 and 3, it has to be the normal verb, with third singular '-s' and with the use of 'do' for negatives and questions.

    A peculiarity of the modal verb 'need' is that it is not used in positive statements, which rules out 2. It's only used for negatives and questions and conditionals: Need he eat so much sugar?
     
    luqo33 said:
    Hello,

    I have been always taught that the verb 'need' can be treated as either a modal verb or a "normal" function verb. Following this rule, is it correct to say:

    1) Need you any help? :cross: Do you need any help? :tick:
    2) We need drink some water. :cross: We need to drink some water. :tick:
    3) He need some sugar. :cross: He needs some sugar. :tick:

    To be honest, they sound bad to me. On the other hand, If I am allowed to treat 'need' as a modal verb, then presumbly, I can use inversion to form question, and I don't have to add -s in the third person singular... Correct me if I'm wrong. Yes, that's right: "Need you makes so much noise?" :tick:
    Click to expand...
     
    I would like to ask you on the usage of need in affirmative sentences.

    As entangledbank says, need is not used in affirmative sentences.

    4. We need drink some water. :cross:
    5, We need to drink some water. :tick:

    But why?
     
    Note that 1) Need you any help? is grammatically correct. This form can be occasionally be seen in very old British movies.

    However 'need' in this case is not modal.
     
    Biffo said:
    Note that 1) Need you any help? is grammatically correct. This form can be occasionally be seen in very old British movies.

    However 'need' in this case is not modal.
    Click to expand...
    It seems grammatically incorrect to me, Biffo:(. I can imagine someone saying eg "Need you go now?" but not "Need you ...?" followed by a noun.
    Takahero said:
    I would like to ask you on the usage of need in affirmative sentences.

    As entangledbank says, need is not used in affirmative sentences.

    4. We need drink some water. :cross:
    5, We need to drink some water. :tick:

    But why?
    Click to expand...
    Takahero, I'd say that the fact that modal need still exists at all is something of an anomaly, when we've got the ordinary lexical verb need which does just the same job:).
     
    Last edited:
    Hey I just think "Need" as Modal and "need to" as regular verb are commonly used to express different ideas

    Need (to): is a regular verb which you can use as in your sentences:

    1) Do you need any help?
    2) We need to drink some water.
    3) He needs some sugar.
    Click to expand...

    Need: as Modal is used to express Strong obligation similar to "Must and Have to"

    Need I tell you again?
    No you needn´t, I understood it.

    Need he come back tomorrow?
    Yes, He need. He has to be here at 11 am

    In those examples the use of need is a modal verb so you don't need to add any auxiliary to make questions or the "s" rule.

    Besides, "Need" as Modal is not really common in American English and you can find it on Classic literature or Movies with a polite language which commonly are based on the 18th or 19th Century.

    I know my reply is a little bit late from your original post but I hope I could have given you any help.

     
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