In Modal auxiliaries^x, Negations^x

Jackson6612 wrote:Need sometimes behaves like a modal, for example 'She need know', 'She needn't know', or, in more formal English, 'She need not know'. Examples: 1: You needn't worry 2: Buying budget-priced furniture needn't mean compromising on quality or style... 3: Loneliness can be...

Thank you to all those who have posted their suggestions to my little imagination game. Some have taken it very seriously thinking they would have to relearn English after the 'changes'. This was meant to be just a game, not for those wo take everything seriously, and of course in this game...

Just to be sure: Need as a modal auxiliary is only possible in its negation, am I right? Or are there any examples for "need" used as an auxiliary in non-negated sentences? Thanks

Too big a question for mortal grammarians, Brinda. BE = exist; copulative verb: You are hungry. COPULATIVE + ADJECTIVE I am Mister Micawber. COPULATIVE + NOUN He is coming. AUXILIARY OF CONTINUOUS ASPECT DO = perform; auxiliary: I do the bookkeeping. TRANSITIVE VERB She doesn't eat...

"Need" in its negation means 'not having the necessity to' and acts here as a modal auxiliary. Modal auxiliaries are always followed by an infinitive without to and do never take an -s for 3rd person: he will go to school / he won't go to school he can go to school / he can't go to school he may...

Miriam, The book is by Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey Pullum. The capital letters in square brackets refer to a list of criteria on the preceding page concerning auxiliary verbs vs. modal auxiliaries. Here's the list: AUXILIARY PROPERTIES Primary verb negation. Subject-auxiliary inversion ...