Use of modal verbs to express necessity

NEED

BE TO

The modal expression be to + infinitive is used in the Present and Past Indefinite. It expresses:

1. An order or a strict order which is generally the result of an arrangement (made by one person to another or which is not to be discussed).

E.g. You are to leave the room at once!

2. An arrangement or agreement, part of a plan, necessity caused by circumstances,schedule or time-table, etc.

E.g. I was to start the conference. He was to have met me here the next morning (the perfectInfinitive is possible). The train is to start in an hour.

3. Strict prohibition.

E.g. You are not to date with this young man!

Though both the modal expressions be to + infinitive and have to + infinitive express a shade of obligation or necessity, there’s a great difference in their meaning.

E.g. As I was to be at 5 sharp (part of an arrangement), I had to take a taxi (necessity arising out of this arrangement).

Exercise 208. Read and comment on the meaning of the modal verbs. Translate the sentences into Russian.

1. I could see the river far down below, the lines of rails running along it, the old bridge where the railway crossed to the other side, and across, under a hill beyond the river the town that was to be taken. We all knew that it was there that the offensive was to begin. We all knew it was to start in two days. They were going to put another bridge over the river when the bombardment started and some troops were to cross the river at the shallow up above at the bent of the river. We were to take four cars there. I asked what time the attack was to begin and they said as soon as it was dark.

(E. Hemingway)

2. “… and what is to happen to my children? How are we going to live?” Mrs. Strickland’s voice broke again. “What am I to say to the children when they ask for their father?” 4. On one occasion, when Strickland was so much better that in a day or two he was to get up, I sat with them in the studio.

(S. Maugham)

3. Here we were, sitting in Earls Court Road on a dusty sunny July morning on two suitcases, and where were we to go? 4. I asked the barman if he knew where Ann was to be found these days. He replied yes. He thought that she was in Hemmersmith.

(Murdock)

Exercise 209. Read and translate the sentences into Russian. State the function of the modal expression be to.

1. What is to become of us all? (J. Austen). 2. The meeting is to be held in the conference room. 3. Such rare architecture specimens are still to be seen in the western part of Edinburgh. 4. You are to remember that you are merely a candidate yet. 5. You are to report every Friday. 6. And above all, he knew that he was to get over it in no time. 7. These fossils are to be found in Devon.

Exercise 210. Answer the following questions using the modal expression be to.

1. When is your train to leave? 2. When is the plain to take off? 3. When is the “British Ways” Show to be held? 4. When are you to meet them? 5. How many entrance exams were you to take? 6. How many exams are you to take this term? 7. What were you to do during your summer field practice? 8. When are you to have the medical check? 9. What do you think your friend is to do to catch up with the group? 10. When are you to pick them up at the airport? 11. What were you to do for today? 12. What are you to do for the next lesson?

Exercise 211. Read the joke. State the function of the modal expression be to.

- Why are fat people good-natured?

- They are to be. They can’t either fight or run.

Exercise 212. Translate into English using Active Grammar.

1. Я должен закончить эту статью к понедельнику. 2. Я должен был закончить эту статью в прошлый понедельник. 3. Вы должны упаковать вещи к 6 часам. 4. Вы должны были упаковать вещи к 6 часам. 5. Вы должны составить план своего урока и показать его вашему руководителю практики. 6.Вы должны были составить план своего урока заранее. Жаль, что вы этого не сделали. 7. Она должна была распределить доклады среди студентов второго курса. 8. Вы непременно должны поговорить с ней наедине. 9. Вы непременно должны пойти к доктору, если у вас бывают головные боли так часто. 10. Когда должна состояться консультация? Кто должен ее проводить? 11. За столом не разговаривать, дети! 12. Где вы должны были встретиться вчера? 13. Ты должен взять слово и поддержать наше предложение. 14. Она должна поступить в педагогический институт. Ей суждено стать педагогом.

Exercise 213. Make a list of your house chores. Use have to or be to in every sentence.

Exercise 214. Fill in the blanks with must, have to or be to.

1. Please stop crying, you... be getting sentimental again. 2. The day was very hot and I really... have a cold drink. 3. – It’s your job, after all. – Well, I agree. Man … do what

man … do. 4. And remember, you … be at the entrance at 4 p.m., and not a minute late. 5. I think Sam … consider the possibility of moving to Canada. 6. I … ask Nell to give me a lift as I couldn’t find my car keys in the morning. 7. Well, you... be sorry for what you’ve done. 8. Darling, you... to dine with my family tomorrow, you know how important it is for me! 9. But who was it - Jack or Simon? It... have been one of the two. 10. Pardon our being late. We missed the turn and … drive back half a mile. 11. It … be the cat. 12. I …shake him well until he woke up. 13. Sooner or later we all... pay for what we do. 20. I asked what time the show... start and bought two tickets.

Need expresses necessity. When it is used in the meaning of “ to be in want of ” or it may express “ necessity ”, it is treated as a normal verb and has three forms: need, needed and will need. As an ordinary verb, need is normally followed by an infinitive with to:

E.g. He needs a new pair of shoes. I’m quite sure that you need to study hard. - He needs to see a doctor. Do you need to see one too?- No, I don't need to see a doctor. But I need a good rest.

You don't need to be over 21 to go into a pub in Britain, whereas in America you do.

As a modal verb, need is used in the concrete and imperative meanings. It expresses absence of necessity and giving permission not to do something. It is not used to express supposition. It is mostly used in negative and interrogative sentences.

1. In the concrete meaning need expresses absence of necessity:

E.g. You needn’t go there at once. You needn't bother to change the sheets. I'll sleep in them later. I’m not sure that you need come. You needn’t have done it. - Need I lock the door when I leave?- No, you needn't. Sue will be home soon.

When need is used with the perfect infinitive, it means that something that has been done was unnecessary. Didn’t need to is also possible as in “ Did you buy those flowers for me? Oh, you didn’t need to do that. ”, and it may mean either “it wasn’t necessary to buy them” or “you have bought them unnecessarily”.

2. In the imperative meaning need is used to express asking for direction and permission not to do something (“можете не...”).

E.g. Need I bring the book today? - You needn’t do it today. Bring it next week.

Exercise 215. Read and translate the sentences into Russian. State the meaning of the modal verb need.

A. 1. You needn’t worry. They are safe and sound. 2. We need not take such an early train, need we? 3. These newspapers needn’t be kept any longer. 4. Need I produce my pass? – Yes, you must. 5. Need I come again, doctor? – No, you needn’t. (You may if you like but it is not necessary.) 6. Need you write the letter today? Can’t you leave it until tomorrow? – Sorry, but I must write it this evening. 7. I need hardly tell you about my plans. You know them. 8. We told her that she needn’t worry 9. Pete needn’t phone for the doctor, mother feels better now. 10. I don’t think we need give her any more of our attention.

B. 1. You needn’t have hurried to the station. The train was an hour late. 2. I needn’t have written the translation. It was an oral task. 3. You needn’t have bought this text-book. I’ve got an extra one. 4. You needn’t have read all the books on the list. You could have chosen some of them. 5. We needn’t have booked the tickets beforehand. 6. They needn’t have taken the matter to court. 7. Mary needn’t have bought a new raincoat. Her old one looked all right. 8. He needn’t have bought a ticket for me. 9. You needn’t have written a detailed account. 10. You needn’t have bothered. We were all right.

Exercise 216. Read the sentences and state whether the verb need is used as a modal verb or a notional verb.

1. I need some money to make both ends meet. 2. He needed a job and looked for it from morning till night. 3. So he needs my help. – Certainly, he does. 4. Need he come back today? – Yes, he must. 5. Do they need to be here at 5 o’clock? – Yes, they do. 6. They don’t need to come here every day. 7. Do you need to be called as soon as they come? 8. We don’t need to hire a taxi. We can go there by bus. 9. Does she need help? 10. We need to know more words to understand such articles. 11. Small children need more sleep than adults. 12. You needn’t follow his advice if you don’t like it. 13. You needn’t go yet, need you? 14. Your car needs washing. 15. “You rest,” she said. “I’ll certainly make the tea. You needn’t have asked me.” 16. You needn’t be afraid of telling me everything. 17. Need we continue working on this project? 18. Our friendship needn’t stop, need it?

Exercise 217. Make up excuses not to do things.

Model. wash up - I needn’t wash up now. I will wash up after supper, when there are more cups and plates.

do homework check my mail clean the room

go shopping change linen do the laundry

take pills call my mother cook the meal

Exercise 218. Translate into English using your Active Grammar.

A

1. Ему не было нужды возвращаться за папкой, и он потом жалел об этом, так как застал Патрицию дома. 2. Вам не нужно было ждать на проходной, вам же заказали

пропуск! 3. Как вы невнимательны! Копии не нужно было подписывать. 4. Что же ты наделал! Тебе не нужно было поливать эту пальму каждый день! 5. Ты принес еще один чистый диск? – Нет, я забыл. – Ничего, тебе и не нужно было приносить его, так как на этом диске еще осталось свободное место. 6. Не нужно подробно описывать предмет, дайте краткое описание. 7. Надо ли мне это делать сейчас? – Нет, не нужно. 8. Ох, не надо было мне спрашивать соседку о ее здоровье. Пришлось провести полчаса, слушая ее.

B

1. Вам незачем было делать это упражнение в письменной форме. Это было устное задание. 2. Тебе не нужно звонить мне каждые пять минут! Я постараюсь придти вовремя. 3. Вам незачем вызывать скорую помощь. Со мной моя сестра, она врач. Потом мы довезем вас домой. 4. Мне незачем было поливать огород вчера. Я потеряла столько времени, а через час пошел дождь и шел всю ночь. 5. Ему незачем было переводить речь докладчика, все присутствовавшие в зале понимали докладчика хорошо. 6. Мне незачем было делать все упражнения вчера. Я провозилась с домашней работой и не успела навестить свою подругу. 7. Вам не нужно было волноваться. Экзамен был нетрудный. 8. Зря ты привезла словарь. У меня же электронный словарь-переводчик. 9. Тебе нечего торопиться. У тебя еще много времени. 10. Напрасно я начал принимать эти витамины, я не почувствовал никакого улучшения, только зря потратил деньги.

TIME OF ACTION	NECESSITY CAUSED BY CIRCUMSTANCES	ABSENCE OF NECESSITY	NECESSITY AS A RESULT OF PLAN, AGREEMENT, GENERAL AGREEMENT, TIME-TABLE
PRESENT	You must go shopping. Our fridge is empty. I have to do it myself. There’s nobody to help me. (I have got to do it myself.)	You needn’t go shopping now. We have enough food. I don’t have to do it all by myself. I’ll ask them to help me.	You are to meet her at the airport at 11am on Monday. When are we to have a workshop?
PAST	We had to wait as there was nobody at the office.	You needn’t have gone shopping. We had enough food. - the action was carried out I didn’t have to do it all by myself. I asked them to help me. - the action wasn’t carried out	We had an early appointment that day. We were to come to his office at 9.
FUTURE	You’ll have to leave earlier if you want to be on time.	You won’t have to go shopping tomorrow. There will be much food left after the party.

Exercise 219. Develop the situations giving possible comment.

Model. You bought some bread. When you came home, it turned out that there was plenty of bread. - I needn’t have bought bread.

- If I keep this bread in the freezer, I won’t have to buy bread for 2 days.

1. Your car needs service. You cannot fix it yourself.

2. The meeting was at six. You were late. You were in a hurry to get to it! But when you finally arrived at the office, the secretary told you that the meeting had been rescheduled.

3. Your friend calls you and says that he needs your help badly.

4. You don’t feel like going to a party. Your friend is trying to convince you to go.

5. You want to buy a new cell phone. Your old cell phone is still all right.

6. You know that you have to work on your Year Paper. Your friend calls and invites you to go out.

Exercise 220. Translate into English using can, may, must, have to, be to or need.

1. Не надо ее будить, пусть отдохнет. Я все сделаю сама. 2. И ты никогда, никогда не должен даже близко подходить к нашему дому! 3. Они, должно быть, уже целый час ждут его в аэропорту. 4. О нет, это же моя курсовая работа! Теперь придется все печатать заново. 5. Незачем было так торопиться. У тебя было достаточно времени. 5. Им было суждено встретиться на борту того злополучного корабля. 6. – Должны ли мы сделать все упражнение целиком? – Нет, не надо. Пункт B вы сделаете дома. 7. Должно быть, она получила неприятные известия. Она так расстроена. 8. Вам можно было и не покупать десерт, я приготовила фруктовое желе. 9. Не смей шуметь! Папа сейчас работает. 10. Ты могла бы позвонить или на крайний случай послать SMS. У нас ведь нету номера твоего мобильного телефона. Мы так волновались. 11. Если вы будете продолжать опаздывать на занятия, мне придется принять меры. 12. Они уехали на прогулку и к семи часам должны вернуться. 13. Это должно было случиться. Ничто не могло этому помешать. 14. Почему ты должен помогать ему? Он тебе когда-нибудь помогал? 15. Должно быть, креветки были несвежие. 16. Он сказал мне, что я должен напечатать статью сегодня. 17. Напрасно вы волновались. Все прошло отлично. 18. Сегодня мы идем в ресторан и не надо готовить ужин. 19. Я должна была там быть час тому назад. Они могут подумать, что со мной что-то случилось. 20. Я должен был встречать их на вокзале в 8. Я должен был ехать на метро, но по привычке поехал на машине. В результате я опоздал на час. Расплатой за мое опоздание было количество сумок, которые мне пришлось самому тащить в машину, так как тележки были платные, а я забыл кошелек дома.

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