Purple Level

Lesson Twelve

Need

need / needed / needed / needing

The verb "need" expresses necessity. Something is important to have. This verb is not normally used in continuous forms (See the note below).

 

1. He doesn’t have a home. He needs something to eat and a place to stay.

homeless boy

2. She needed some help from her father yesterday. (past tense)

She needs the training wheels on her bike. (present tense)

Soon she will need to learn how to ride her bike without the training wheels. (future tense)

father helping daughter

3. He needs someone to talk to.

grandparent

4. He needs a cup of coffee every morning before he goes to work.

He might need to get more sleep at night.

cup

5. She will need to bring her lunch to school today.

girl

6. Penguins have needed a lot of help in recent years because of global warming and the loss of their habitats around the world.

swimming

7. The workers at this company say they need more money. That’s why they are on strike.

workers
Need
present tense: need / needs
past tense: needed
future: will need
present continuous: no
past continuous: no
future continuous: will be needing (possible) *
present perfect: has / have needed
past perfect: had needed
future perfect: will have needed
present perfect continuous: has/have been needing *
past perfect continuous: no
future perfect continuous:
modal verbs: ______ need
past tense modal: ______ have needed
infinitive: to need
gerund: needing (not common)
passive: yes

* "Need" is not normally put into the continuous form, but in spoken English you hear it. However, that doesn’t mean it’s correct. It’s just that many Americans don’t care if it’s correct or not.

 

Next: Lesson Thirteen

the verb "want"