English 24
19th July 2003
A little bit of GRAMMAR

Hi guys
Well even though the majority of you are enjoying your summer holidays, you still have no excuse to skip your grammar homework. This week we covered needn't (do) and needn't have (done) to begin with you needn't (do) means that it is not necessary to do something:

§ You've got plenty of time before the train leaves. You needn't hurry to the station. (It's not necessary to hurry)
§ I can hear the television quite clearly, you needn't turn it up.

Instead of needn't you can also use don't/doesn't need to:
§ You've plenty of time to catch the flight. You don't need to hurry to the airport.
§ You don't need to shout, I'm not deaf!

NB we say, "don't need to hurry", but "needn't hurry" (without to)

Needn't have (done)
We use needn't have to say that someone did something but it wasn't necessary:
Look at the example situation:
Sean wanted to catch the 7 o'clock train to London. He left home late, so he hurried to the station. But the train was also late - it didn't leave until 7.30pm - half an hour after Sean had arrived at the station. Therefore
Sean needn't have hurried. (because the train was late so it wasn't necessary)
§ Paolo bought some butter from the supermarket, but when he got home and opened the fridge he found he already had some. So he needn't have bought any butter.
§ Thanks for doing the washing up*Jo, but you needn't have done it; I was going to do it after the film.

*the washing up: i piatti sporchi

Didn't need to is different from needn't have because we use didn't need to as well as didn't have to, to say that an action was unnecessary. This was known at the time of the action:
§ I didn't need to go to work this morning, so I had a lie-in instead.
§ I didn't need to go to work this morning but I went anyway.

When we use needn't have, we did not know at the time that the action was not necessary.
§ I needn't have gone (= I went - this was unnecessary, but at the time I didn't know is was unnecessary)
§ I needn't have gone to the bank as when I got there it was closed.

Practice Exercises

Exercise 1
Write a sentence with needn't
E.g. Shall I wash the car now?
No you needn't do it now, you can do it after lunch.

1. Shall I mow the lawn this afernoon? (no) No, __________ because it looks like it's going to rain. You can do it tomorrow.
2. Shall I post these letters now? (no) No, ________You can post them with the rest this afternoon.
3. Shall I go and do the shopping now? (no) No,________ You can do it this evening.

Exercise 2
Complete the sentences with needn't, must or mustn't
E.g. We've got plenty of time before the train leaves. We needn't hurry.

1. Do you want me to wait for you outside work? No, you _____ wait for me outside the office; I'll meet you at the cinema.
2. You ____ forget to post that letter it's very important.
3. Darling, you needn't come shopping in the sales if you don't want to but I would really love it if you did.
4. We've finished all the food in the cupboard. We really ___ go shopping this evening.

Exercise 3
Make a sentence with needn't have:
E.g. I don't know why we waited so long. We needn't have waited so long

1. I don't know why she slammed the door. She ___________
2. I don't know why she shouted at the sales assistant like that. She ___
3. The coffee was disgusting. I don't know why he drank it. He ____
4. I don't know why he came to the party. He ________

Exercise 4
Read the following situations and make sentences with needn't have:
E.g. Sean went to the corner shop to buy some cigarettes, but when he was walking home he found a new packet in his jacket pocket. He needn't have gone to the shop buy some cigarettes.

1. Joanne had no money to go on holiday, so she sold her scooter. A few days later she inherited a huge sum of money. She _________
2. I arrived at the airport early but the flight was delayed by 3 hours. I __________
3. Today I went to work with my umbrella because I thought it was going to rain, but instead it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. I _____________

Answers

Exercise 1
1. No, you needn't do it this afternoon
2. No, you needn't post them now.
3. No, you needn't do the shopping now.

Exercise 2
1. needn't
2. mustn't
3. needn't
4. must

Exercise 3
1. She needn't have slammed the door.
2. She needn't have shouted at the sales assistant like that.
3. He needn't have drunk the coffee.
4.He needn't have come to the party.

Exercise 4
1. She needn't have sold her scooter.
2. I needn't have arrived early.
3. I needn't have taken my umbrella to work