need Ex. 52, p. 465 1 , 5 .
Need is an ordinary notional verb that serves to express necessity. 2.
Need is an
ordinary notional verb denoting the absence of neseccity.
In all the other sentences
need is a modal verb:
3.
Needn't denotes the absence of necessity to perform the action. 4.
Need implies
that the speaker may think that there is no necessity to perform the action. 6, 8, 9.
Absence of necessity. 7, 10, 11.
Neednt't + a Perfect Infininitive and
need never + a
Perfect Infinitive show that the actions were performed though they were
unnecessary^ 12.
Needn't is part of a predicate in a clause of purpose. It is used to
show that the person that is the subject of the principal clause views the action of the
said subordinate clause as undesirable.
Ex. 53, p. 466 1. You
needn't have brought your umbrella, as we are going by car. 2. You
need't have watered the flowers, as it is going to rain. 3 . I
needn't have translated it for him,
he did it himself, he understands Latin. 4 . I
didn't have to answer the questions
which saved me a lot of trouble. 5 . I knew I
didn't have to lock the door after me, but
how was I to know you wanted to come out too? 6 . I
didn't have to ring the bell
because the door opened before I got to it. 7. I
didn't have to help them at all, they
themselves knew what to do. 8. I
didn't have to write him because the news was
already known to him. He phoned me shortly afterwards. 9. You
needn't have listened to him. His information was misleading. 10. You
needn't have bought such a
lot of flowers. We've already got more than necessary. 11. He
didn't have to get up so
early every day. It was only on that particular occasion that he did. 12. You
needn't have said it if you didn't want to. We could have done without you just as well.