FAffirmative obligations in the past: had to

Here the distinction between the speaker's authority and external authority cannot be expressed and there is only one form, had to:

7 ran out of money and had to borrow from Tom. You had to pay duty on that, I suppose?

There were no buses so he had to walk.

146 need not and must not in the present and future

need not can be used for present and future. It has the same form for all persons. (See 148.)

need not expresses absence of obligation. The speaker gives permission for an action not to be performed or sometimes merely states that an action is not necessary:

EMPLOYER: You needn't make two copies. One will do. Give them this cheque. They needn 't send me a receipt. You needn't change (your clothes) Just come as you are.

must not expresses a negative obligation imposed by the speaker or very emphatic advice:

You mustn 't repeat this to anyone.

NOTICE IN SHOP: Staff must not smoke when serving customers. You mustn't leave your car unlocked. This place is full of thieves.

147 need not, must not and must in the present and future

DOCTOR: You needn't go on a diet; but you must eat sensibly and you mustn't overeat.

ZOO notice: Visitors must not feed the animals. RAILWAY NOTICE: Passengers must not walk on the line. You mustn't drive fast. There is a speed limit here. You needn 't drive fast. We 've plenty of time. You needn't strike a match. I can see well enough. You mustn't strike a match. This room is full of gas. SCHOOL NOTICE: The lifts must not be used during Fire Drill. You mustn't wear that dress again. You look terrible in yellow.

TEACHER: You needn't read the whole book but you must read the first four chapters.

You must cut down that dead tree or it will fall on your house. DOCTOR: You mustn't take more than two of these pills at once. Three might be fatal.

DOCTOR (to patient's wife): If the pain has gone he needn't take any more of these.

148 need: forms

A need can be both an auxiliary and an ordinary verb. As an auxiliary it is a semi-modal, i.e. it has both modal and 'ordinary verb' forms. As a modal, its forms are need or need not/needn't for all persons in the present and future and in indirect speech. (See C below.) Interrogative: need I? etc. Negative interrogative: need I not/needn't I? etc. need conjugated as above takes the bare infinitive.

B need as an auxiliary is seldom used in the affirmative except when a negative or interrogative sentence is preceded by an expression which changes the negative or interrogative verb into an affirmative:

/ needn't wear a coat or / don't suppose I need wear a coat.

Need I tell Tom? or Do you think I need tell Tom? It is however sometimes used in fairly formal English with

hardly/ scarcely or only:

I need hardly say how' pleased we are to welcome Mr X. (I needn't say...)

You need only touch one of the pictures for all the alarm bells to start ringing. (If you even touch one of the pictures all the bells...)

C 'needn't' in direct speech can be reported unchanged: ' You needn't pay till the 31st' he says/said = He says/said I needn't pay till the 31st. (See also 325 C.)

D need can also be conjugated as an ordinary verb with negative forms as shown in 149 below. Corresponding

have to forms are also shown. For interrogative forms, see 151.

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