Let’s look at each one individually. Then we’ll compare NEED and NEED TO, and later HAVE and HAVE TO, as well.

NEED

Need means a want, a necessity, something essential.  You need it because it is important for your survival. It isn’t just desirable. So,

Owning a Mercedes car is a desirable, but not a need. Your existence will not be suspect if you don’t own a Mercedes car. You can still continue existing blissfully enough.

BUT food is a need – not just desirable. It’s a basic necessity. It’s a prerequisite for a healthy living. Without food, your existence will be uncertain.

Let’s see how to use NEED practically. It can be used positively and negatively.

Sentences

Positive use:

• • • I need help now.
    • You need an A plus to win the scholarship.
    • We need a mechanic to open the lock.
    • They need a stay-in help.
    • She needs a doctor – call up Dr Ray.
    • You need an IELTS band 8 to get into Stanford.

Compare these with the positive uses of NEED TO below.

So, all these are compulsory – not just desirable. You can’t do without them.

Negative use:

• • • I don’t need your charity, young man!
    • He doesn’t need a bat: he needs a laptop.
    • You don’t need a Band 8 for any Canadian university. A Band 7.5 will get you in easily.
    • She doesn’t need any medicines – just a few days of vacation and she’ll be fit as a fiddle.
    • You don’t need an electrician. I can fix it easily.

Note that you can’t say,

I needn’t your charity.

It’s absolutely wrong.

NEED TO

This speaks of a compulsory action. So, you can say

I need to work out every day to stay fit.

This means it is important and for your own personal benefit. There is no external pressure on you to do it. If you don’t do it, you won’t be shot or hanged, or dragged, or quartered. (You have my guarantee.)

• • • He needs to go to Bangalore next week. It’s his wedding.
    • I need to get up early tomorrow; otherwise I’ll miss my flight.
    • I need to spend more time with my family because I’ve been busy with my work lately.
    • I need to focus on filling my pipeline. Otherwise I’ll run out of options.

In all these cases, the actions are important to the speaker. It isn’t any duty imposed on the speaker from outside. For that you use have to.

NEED TO can be used positively and negatively.

Sentences

Positive use:

• • • I need to hire a domestic help now. Otherwise I’ll be in deep trouble.
    • You need to get an A plus to win the scholarship. Otherwise you can kiss your dreams goodbye.
    • We need to call a mechanic to open the lock. Otherwise we’ll be locked out for the night.
    • They need to fix the leak immediately. Otherwise the house will be flooded.
    • She needs to see a doctor – call up Dr Ray. Otherwise she’ll get worse.
    • You need to get an IELTS band 8 to get into Stanford. Otherwise you won’t get into Stanford.

Compare these with the positive uses of NEED above. You add a to + verb here.

Negative use:

NEED TO can be used negatively in two ways:

The first is:

• • • The machinery need not be overhauled for another six months.

Note that in the spoken word need not can be contracted to needn’t. So, you can say the same thing like this:

• • • The machinery needn’t be overhauled for another six months.
    • You needn’t pay the rent in advance.
    • They needn’t deliver till next week.
    • I needn’t work on Monday.
    • She needn’t worry about paying rent because it’s her own house.

Also, note that in the negative sense, you don’t say needn’t to. You don’t add the infinitive ‘to’. So, it’s incorrect to say:

You need not to (needn’t to) come in on Sunday.

The other way is to add the auxiliary verb ‘do’, thus:

• • • You don’t need to overhaul the machinery for another six months.
    • You don’t need to pay the rent in advance.
    • They don’t need to deliver till next week.
    • I don’t need to work on Monday.
    • She don’t need to worry about paying rent because it’s her own house.

Here, you need the infinitive ‘to’. So, you can’t say:

You don’t need overhaul the machinery for another six months.

Some people also use NEED in a manner now considered very old fashioned. People generally don’t speak or write in this manner unless they are some snarky lawyers! It is:

• • • The delivery need be made by Friday.
    • I need complete the report by 5 o’ clock.
    • She need see a doctor.
    • You need get an A plus to win a scholarship.

In this construction, the need is used without the s. You don’t say

She needs see a doctor.

Their logic is simple—it’s just dropping the infinitive ‘to’.

No, it isn’t. This is plainly old fashioned or restricted to snooty formal situations. So, I suggest don’t bother with this construction. If you hear people speak like this, just look the other way – ignore them!

NEED and NEED TO

Let’s look at the uses practically:

• • • I need a Band 8 in IELTS because I need to get into Stanford. Otherwise I won’t be able to work in Google.
    • You need a doctor because you need to get this mysterious lump diagnosed.
    • You need a certified electrician because you need to get the certificate of completion from the Municipal authorities.
    • You need a rope because the creeper needs to go up to the roof.
    • I need a shovel, because I need to remove all this mud from our doorstep.
    • We need a strong bowler because we need to restrict them to a low score.
    • She needs a helping hand because she needs to fix dinner for twenty guests.
    • The creeper needs a rope because we need it to spread on the roof.

HAVE TO

HAVE TO is simply an obligation.

It can also be used positively and negatively. So,

Positive Uses

• • • • We have to file a tax-deducted-at-source form to get a tax exemption.
      • You have to get a completion certificate from the builder to get an official nod from the municipal authorities.
      • If you need a duplicate driver’s licence, you need to file a complaint at the local police station.
      • If you think the police has played foul, you have to file a writ of habeas corpus to bring him before the court.

Negative Uses

• • • You don’t have to submit your original driver’s licence – a photocopy will do.
    • You don’t have to do a 60 on the 60-stretch. You can also drive at 50 kmph.
    • You don’t have to come in on Sunday. We have time to complete the job till Wednesday.
    • She doesn’t have to get married to get her grandfather’s property. She just has to inform him of her decision to do so.

NEED TO and HAVE TO

Look at this sentence:

I need to hire a domestic help now.

If I use HAVE TO instead of NEED TO, I’m saying if I don’t hire one, I’ll have to face some punishment. Maybe my wife will give me a piece of her mind!

Look at the following additional sentences. All of them point to some external influence, pressure, retribution, or punishment if you don’t comply:

• • • You have to get an A plus to win the scholarship. Otherwise grandfather won’t give you a share in his property!
    • We have to call a mechanic to open the lock. Otherwise we’ll be arrested for trying to pick a lock!
    • They have to fix the leak immediately. Otherwise the municipal authorities will send us a notice!
    • She has to see a doctor – call up Dr Ray. Otherwise she’ll lose her day’s pay!
    • You have to get an IELTS band 8 to get into Stanford. Otherwise you will be sent to prison under the latest law!

So, the difference between NEED TO and HAVE TO is sternly plain. If you use one for the other, be ready to face unexpected reactions.