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Learning English - The Flatmates

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Need to and Needs-ing

We use 'need' to talk about things we think are necessary to do. We can use two different structures - need / needs to and need / needs -ing

We use this form when we want to talk about something that's necessary for someone to do. We usually mention who is going to do it. For example: "I need to go to the dentist" means "It's necessary for me to visit the dentist".

We form this structure with:

subject	need or needs to	verb
Ellie	needs to	practise
Alice	needs to	wear a uniform
They	need to	go shopping
We	need to	post the letters

We form the negative with:

subject	don't or doesn't need to	verb
Paul	doesn't need to	take Ellie riding
She	doesn't need to	drive
We	don't need to	pay to go to the park
They	don't need to	buy a present

We can use this form when we want to talk about something that is necessary for someone to do. We don't have to say who is going to do it. For example, when the instructor said "Dusty needs untacking" she meant "The horse needs to be untacked by you, Ellie".

This is a passive structure where the usual subject + verb + object form changes to object + need + verb+ing.

We form this structure with:

object	need or needs	verb+ing
The horse	needs	untacking
The house	needs	tidying
The stables	need	mucking out
These letters	need	posting

We form the negative with:

object	don't or doesn't need	verb + ing
The car	doesn't need	washing
The plant	doesn't need	watering
The stables	don't need	painting
The horses	don't need	feeding

halt (formal)
stop

dismount
get off something you ride (for example, a horse or a bike)

enough of the love-fest (informal, here used sarcastically)
stop being so loving to each other

untack (specialised horse vocabulary)
take off the saddle and other pieces equipment that are used for riding a horse

a stable
a building where horses are kept

mucking out (specialised animal vocabulary)
cleaning out the horse stables