Talk:need not
Latest comment: 2 months ago by Malick78 in topic mistake!
mistake![edit]
"third-person singular simple present needs not" - actually, the form is 'need not' in the 3rd person singular. I don't know how to change this though since the info seems to be given in a template. The example quotation shows that the form is 'need not'. Malick78 (talk) 13:51, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
- @Malick78: You may be thinking of the subjunctive (as in "he hardly need go there"). That is a separate issue. Equinox ◑ 14:20, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
- I don't think these uses are explained by the subjunctive. The quote in the entry ("But the very same example serves to show that this need not be the case.") doesn't seem to be subjunctive, and I don't think your example is either – if I substitute another verb it sounds wrong to me without the s ("He hardly wants to go there"/"*He hardly want to go there"). The usage notes at need#Usage notes seem to shed some light on the situation, saying that need is used as "a modal verb, with a bare infinitive; in negative polarity contexts, such as questions ('Need I say more?' 'Need you have paid so much?'), with negative expressions such as not ('It need not happen today'; 'No one need ever know'), and with similar constructions ('There need only be one'; 'it need be signed only by the president'; 'I need hardly explain it'). Need in this use does not have inflected forms, aside from the contraction needn’t." —Granger (talk · contribs) 16:29, 3 February 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks for the reply. So, how do we change it? Malick78 (talk) 09:47, 13 March 2024 (UTC)
- I don't think these uses are explained by the subjunctive. The quote in the entry ("But the very same example serves to show that this need not be the case.") doesn't seem to be subjunctive, and I don't think your example is either – if I substitute another verb it sounds wrong to me without the s ("He hardly wants to go there"/"*He hardly want to go there"). The usage notes at need#Usage notes seem to shed some light on the situation, saying that need is used as "a modal verb, with a bare infinitive; in negative polarity contexts, such as questions ('Need I say more?' 'Need you have paid so much?'), with negative expressions such as not ('It need not happen today'; 'No one need ever know'), and with similar constructions ('There need only be one'; 'it need be signed only by the president'; 'I need hardly explain it'). Need in this use does not have inflected forms, aside from the contraction needn’t." —Granger (talk · contribs) 16:29, 3 February 2024 (UTC)