(Cal que en Jack llegeixi les instruccions.)
Need (necessitar) is usually used as a main verb, but sometimes as an auxiliary verb in the present, e.g.:
| Jack needs to read the instructions. (Cal que en Jack llegeixi les instruccions.) |
| She doesn't need to go. (No cal que hi vagi.) |
| She needn't go. (No cal que hi vagi.) |
| We stopped the car because we needed to eat something. (Vam aturar el cotxe perquè havíem de menjar alguna cosa.) |
When we talk about past time, there are two negative forms with different implications, e.g.:
| We needn't have hurried because the show started late. (Ens vam afanyar però no era necessari perquè l'espectacle va començar tard.) |
Needn't have (done) implies that the person did that thing, but it was not necessary.
| Wendy had plenty of money on her, so she didn't need to go to the bank. (La Wendy duia molts diners a sobre i per tant no havia d'anar al banc.) |
In this case didn't need to go implies that it was not necessary (and in fact Wendy did not go to the bank.).
| Thank you, but you didn't need to wait for us. (Gràcies, però no calia esperar-nos.) |
In this case, somebody waited, but it was not necessary.
