2023: The Odd Grammar of "If Needs Be" Jun 29, 2020

Some verbs can introduce a grammar that only really work for themselves. In one such case, 'need' (or needs) will often take an infinitive verb without the infinitive marker 'to' such as in "if needs be", and in some dialects it can also take a participle: "the car needs fixed". In the former example, "if need(s) be" or "if needs must" both imply compelling by necessity, and are pretty old constructions, relying on grammar and phrasing that was once more common than it is now in Modern English. In the latter example, though more regionally variable, the phrase "the car needs fixed" (as in "...to be fixed") cannot as easily be substituted by related verbs like 'want', but this is still possible nonetheless.

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