NOTES ON THE ANOMALOUS FINITES
3. You don’t have your hatr cut once a week, do you?
4. When did you last have your hair cut?
§ 4h. Verbs such as rest, drink, dine, smoke, walk are often re- placed by have a rest, have a drink, have dinner, etc. In these phrases the finites of have are never anomalous.
Did you have a pleasant walk? Don’t you sometimes have a rest? Did you have a sleep?
Students of colloquial English will do well to become familiar with the peculiarities of have noted in sub-sections b and c above.
The distinctions noted in sub-section f will be met with in speech and writing but are not distinctions that the learner need make himself. It will be sufficient for him to use Aave, in these cases, as an ordinary verb, with negative and interrogative forms with do, does, and did.
Do, Does, Did
§ 5. The finites of do are anomalous only when they are auxiliary verbs (in the formation of the negative and interrogative, and in
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the emphatic affirmative). When do is a full verb, the finites are not anomalous.
Tom did most of the work. Harry didn’t do much of the work.
Did Dick do any of the work?
Martha does all the housework. Mary doesn’t do any of the housework. Does Helen ever do any of the housework?
Shall-Should; Will-Would; Can-Could; May-Might; Must
§ 6. These finites are always anomalous. They are defective verbs.
Their meanings, and the constructions into which they enter, may be found by reference to the Index.
Ought
$7. Ought is a defective verb. See the Index for its uses. It is always anomalous in standard English. In sub-standard English it is sometimes used with did. (A You didn’t ought to do that.)
Need
§8. There is a verb need that is regular in every way. It has third person singular Present Tense needs. It is conjugated in all the tenses and forms its negative and interrogative forms with do, does, and did. There is also the anomalous finite need, used without s for the third person singular (need he, he needn’t).
The regular verb need is used with a (pro)noun as its object (VP 2) or with a gerund (VP r7C) or a passive infinitive. It means
‘require’ or ‘be in need of.
1, Tom needs a new coat. He doesn’t need new shoes. Does he need anew shirt?
2. The work needed time and patience.
3. That blind man needs somebody to help him across the street.
4. My shoes need mending (need to be mended).
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When 2đ is used with a fo-infnitive (V?P 2) it is regular. The finites are not anomalous.
Do you need to work so late? He doesn’t need to work so late, does he?
Here the meaning is ‘be obliged’, ‘be compelled’. It is possible to use need with a bare infinitive. Need is then anomalous. Need, not needs, is the third person singular form.
Need he work so late? He needn’t work so late, need he?
The regular verb need can be used in the affirmative with a to-infinitive but must and have to are usually preferred. Need occurs with awill and shall, however.
You must (rarely need to) start early in order to arrive before
dark. .
You'll have to (or you'll need to) hurry if you want to catch the 2.25 train,
The anomalous finite need is not used in the affirmative. It occurs only in the negative and interrogative,
The regular verb can be used in the Past Tense with a to- infinitive.
We didn’t need to hurry. (It wasn’t necessary for us to hurry.) The anomalous finite has no Past Tense form. It can be used with a Perfect Infinitive, without Zo.
We needn’t have hurried.
Note the difference in meaning.
We didn’t need to hurry, (It wasn’t necessary for us to hurry and we didn’t hurry.)
We needn’t have hurried. (We have hurried. But now we see that it wasn’t necessary.)
They didn’t need to go. (Whether they did go or did not go, it wasn’t necessary for them to go.)
They needn’t have gone. (They have gone, It wasn’t necessary for them to go.)
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The negative needn’t (absence of obligation or necessity) cor- responds to the affirmative must or have to. (Musin’t indicates prohibition.)
ce (fe needn’t start yet. Ce (Veet you go yet?
He must start now, Yes, I must.
Dare
§9. The verb dare is used both as a regular verb and as an anomalous finite.
Anomalous dave is used in the negative with a bare infinitive.
The third person singular, Present Tense, is dave, not dares.
Daren’t is used for present, past, and future time.
Harry met Mr. Green yesterday but he daren’t tell him that we had smashed the motor-car we borrowed from him.
Will you tell Mr. Green that we've smashed his motor-car? I daren’t tell him.
The regular verb dare is used with either a to-infinitive or a bare infinitive.
Harry met Mr. Green yesterday but he didn’t dare (to) tell him that we had smashed the motor-car we borrowed from him.
Will you tell Mr. Green that we've smashed his motor-car?
I don’t dare (to) tell him.
Anomalous dare is used in the interrogative, especially after how.
How dare you speak to me like that?
How dare he say such rude things about me?
Dare he admit it?
The regular verb dave is used in the interrogative with a to- infinitive.
Do they dare (= are they impudent enough) to suggest that we have been dishonest?
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When dare means ‘challenge’, it is used with a (pro)noun and a to-infinitive and is quite regular.
He dared me to jump across the stream.
J dare anyone to prove that my facts are incorrect.
Dare is also quite regular when it means ‘face boldly’.
He was ready to dare any danger.
Used to
§ 10 a. For the meaning of this finite and the ways in which it is used, see § 51 b. Note the pronunciation [ju:st]. It is to be distin- guished from the Past Tense of use. This has the same spelling, used, but is pronounced [ju:zd].
Used is anomalous. It has the negative usedn’t [Hju:snt] and the interrogative used we (he, she, etc.). In tag-questions and responses, however, did often replaces used.
You used to live in Leeds, use(d)n’t (or didn’t) you?
A: ‘Brown used to live in Leeds.’
B: ‘Oh, did he? (Oh, used he?)’
An increasing number of speakers say ‘Did he use to’ and ‘He didn’t use to’ instead of ‘Used he to’ and ‘He usedn’t to’.
§10 b. Distinguish used to x infinitive from be (get) used [ju:st] to something (to doing something), meaning ‘be (get) accustomed to’.
He’s not used to hard manual work.