Grammar Guru — Need

Need highlights actions that are perceived as necessary or essential for achieving specific goals or meeting personal needs. It indicates a sense of urgency or importance attached to certain tasks or behaviors.

Need is a semi-modal verb because in some ways it is like a modal verb and in other ways like a main verb.

Need is mostly used in the negative form to indicate that there is no obligation or necessity to do something:

You needn’t take off your shoes.

Affirmative form

Affirmatives with the semi-modal need are not common and they are used in formal contexts. There is almost always a negative word (e.g. no one, nobody, nothing) or phrase in the clause, even if the verb phrase is affirmative:

No one need think that we are doing this every week. (we are not doing this every week)

Nobody need know the name of the person who made the complaint.

Not a thing need change on this page.

Need comes first in the verb phrase (after the subject and before another verb):

Let’s forget about it. No one need know about it.

We can’t use another modal verb with need:

No one need read this.

Not: No one need must read this. or No one must need read this.

Negative form

Warning:

Form the negative by adding not after need. Need notcan be contracted to needn’t. We don’t use don’t/doesn’t/didn’t with the semi-modal verb need:

You need not spend a lot of money on presents.(formal) (or You needn’t spend a lot of money on presents.)

Not: You don’t need spend a lot of money on presents.