TimKowal wrote: Lazy English? Poor grammar? i suppose by 'lazy english' you're calling the speaker lazy. but can you please elaborate on 'poor grammar'? is 'works for me' ungrammatical to you?

Danyoo wrote: Being a native speaker does not automatically qualify him or her as a grammar guru. right. the confusion is, as crystal puts it, between 'knowing grammar' and 'knowing about grammar'. if you've read and understood

Paco2004 wrote: Dialigue B - Is it required that I finish my work by noon? - No, it is required that you do not finish your work by noon. To me the dialogue B sounds weird. yes, it would sound off to me too in certain contexts, as

in 1 and 3 both 'need to ' and 'must' sound fine to me. in 2 and 4, 'needn't' and 'mustn't' both sound fine to me, but have different meanings. the scope of negation with 'must' is different to the scope of negation with 'need'. compare,

depends. correctness here is a sociopolitical concept, and your question is answerable only by appealing to prescriptive authorities. so it depends whose book you pick up. i would say neither of you are incorrect, if that helps. sam,