Needing to do something
I need to fix the lamp tomorrow.
Left column: the order of the concepts, as chips — the slots you fill (who, action, thing, when) and the fixed words the language adds (a modal, a negator, a question marker). Click a slot, here or in the bar above, to choose what goes in it. Right column: the sentence those concepts make, the other orders the language allows, and the other ways to say it — each with what it changes. The rows are the languages switched on at the top of the page.
Try:
| Language | The order of the concepts | The sentence, other orders, other ways to say it |
|---|---|---|
| EnglishEnglish | need to modal An ordinary verb: -s after he/she, and 'to' before the next verb. The need is the speaker's own — compare 'have to', where it comes from outside. | I need to fix the lamp tomorrow. |
| FrançaisFrench | ai modalbesoin de modal avoir besoin de — literally 'to have need of'. The need is a noun, so the verb that conjugates is avoir; de becomes d’ before a vowel (besoin d’aller). | demain Après-demain = the day after tomorrow. J’ai besoin de réparer la lampe demain. |
| EspañolSpanish | necesito modal necesitar + infinitive, straight on, with no preposition: necesito dormir. Compare French avoir besoin de, where the need is a noun. | mañana Also 'morning' (la mañana): mañana por la mañana = tomorrow morning. Pasado mañana = the day after tomorrow. Necesito arreglar la lámpara mañana. |
Hover a word to see which concept it fills. The verb is always in its dictionary form: every pattern here is built on a modal, which carries the person and the tense, so any verb stays grammatical in every language. Where the modal is an ending (Korean, Japanese, Hindi's 'can'), the stem is computed. What this cannot show is agreement beyond the modal — adjectives, plural objects — which the grammar chapters cover.
For the same idea said at three levels of politeness, see Compare.