In the sentence "A longer force arm means less effort need be applied", why is it "need be" and not "needs to be"? Both structures feel natural to me, but why is the omission of the infinitive acceptable?
Asked
Active
Viewed 34 times
0
-
One need but consult the marked duplicates to learn about this use as a modal verb. – tchrist Aug 09 '21 at 01:39
-
1https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/103658/are-there-other-verbs-that-work-like-dare-and-need – Phil Sweet Aug 09 '21 at 03:00