0

Which one of the two sentences - "Do I need mention that she is my wife" or "Do I need to mention that she is my wife" - is correct use.

tchrist
  • 134,759
Girish Bhatnagar
  • 189
  • May be this will answer your question.

    http://english.stackexchange.com/a/103241/139486

     – Rahul Sep 21 '15 at 09:06

2 Answers2

0

Need is a semi-modal verb which can actually follow two patterns:

Do I need to mention that she is my wife? (treating need as a regular verb)

or

Need I mention that she is my wife? (treating need as a modal verb)

Same goes for the negative:

I don't need to mention...

or

I needn't mention...

Mixing the two, i.e. using "Do I need mention...?" or "I don't need mention" or "Need I to mention?" is unnatural.

Armen Ծիրունյան
  • 17,751
  • @GirishBhatnagar that comment almost sounds sarcastic, and rude! You should say "Thank you for answering my trivial question" – Mari-Lou A Sep 21 '15 at 11:32
  • @Mari-LouA I think part of the problem here is that, in India (or at least in parts of India), "doubt" means "question". As a result, many uses of "doubt" sound strange or impolite to non-Indians. (For example, if an American tells me that he has a doubt about one of my theorems, I worry because he thinks he found a mistake; if an Indian says the same thing, I don't worry, because he probably just has a question.) – Andreas Blass Sep 21 '15 at 12:37
  • Thanks, Andreas!. For clearing Mari-Lou's doubt(!); next time I shall show my gratitude for giving an answer to my question/s. – Girish Bhatnagar Sep 22 '15 at 06:38
0

If the Ngram viewer is any guide, the bare infinitive following "need" used to be more popular than the to-infinitive. For the bare infinitive, we go from the sublime past, The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)

As to the carpenters, I scarce need mention how useful they were.*

to the ridiculous modern, The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need by S. J. Rothberg (2002):

Here, you only need mention that you did pet sitting. It doesn't matter that it was for the neighbors or a relative.

*From an 1812 edition published by Chiswick Press

Pang
  • 359
deadrat
  • 44,678