The verb need is extremely common. The most important thing to remember when you use it in present or past simple tenses is that it must be followed either by a noun or a to-infinitive. It is a common mistake to use the wrong form of the verb that follows need:
- I need a knife to cut this cheese.
- She needs an umbrella.
- I need to talk to Billy.
- I need talking to Billy.
- We needed to change some money.
- We didn’t need to change any money.
- We needed changing some money.
- We didn’t need change money.
Remember too that need is a state verb, which means that we don’t use it in continuous tenses. That is also a common mistake:
- We’re needing a new car.
- We need a new car.
The other thing you need to remember about need is that there is an important difference between didn’t need to and needn’t have. We use didn’t need to when something wasn’t necessary and we didn’t do it. We use needn’t have when something wasn’t necessary but we did it anyway:
- We bought pizza so that we didn’t need to cook a meal. (we didn’t cook)
- They brought pizza with them, so we needn’t have cooked a meal. (we did cook)
For general advice on learning grammar, see our post: How to learn grammar for B1/PET and B2/FCE
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