It is important that you should know precisely what is going on. It is essential that immediate action should be taken. It is vital that a mother takes time to get to know her baby.
Important and necessary can also be followed by a to-infinitive clause.
It’s important to recognize what industry needs at this moment. It is necessary to examine this claim before we proceed any further.
5.245 You can use had better instead of should or ought to to say that something is the right or correct thing to do. You use had better with I or we to show an intention. You use it with you when you are giving advice or a warning.
I think I had better show this to my brother.
He decided that we had better meet.
You’d better go.
Semi-modals
5.246 Dare, need, and used to can be used as modals, or they can be used in other ways. When they are used as modals, they have some characteristics that other modals do not have. For these reasons, they are sometimes called semi-modals.
The use of dare and need as modals is explained in paragraphs 5.247 to 5.251.
The use of used to as a modal is explained in paragraphs 5.252 to 5.256.
dare and need
5.247 When dare and need are used as modals, they have the same meaning as when they are followed by a to-infinitive clause. However, they are normally used as modals only in negative sentences and in questions.
Nobody dare disturb him.
No parent dare let their child roam free.
He told her that she need not worry.
How dare you speak to me like that?
Need you go so soon?
I daren’t ring Jeremy again.
We needn’t worry about that.
inflected forms
5.248 Unlike other modals, dare has some inflected forms that are occasionally used.
In the present simple, the third person singular form can be either dare or dares.
He dare not admit he had forgotten her name.
What nobody dares suggest is that the children are simply spoilt.
In the past simple, either dare or dared can be used. Dare is more formal than dared.
He dare not take his eyes off his assailant.
He dared not show he was pleased.
Need is not inflected when it is used as a modal.
use with other modals
5.249 Normally, modals cannot be used with other modals. However dare can be used with will, would, should, and might.
No one will dare override what the towns decide.
I wouldn’t dare go to there alone.
use with do
5.250 Unlike other modals, dare can be used with the auxiliary verb do.
We do not dare examine it.
Don’t you ever dare come here again!
In ordinary speech, did not dare and didn’t dare are much more common than dared not or dare not.
She did not dare leave the path.
I didn’t dare speak or move.
We didn’t dare say that we would prefer to go home.
other uses of dare and need
5.251 Besides being used as modals, dare and need are used in other ways in which they are not followed by the base form of another verb. Both verbs can be followed by a to-infinitive clause, and need is a common transitive verb.
used to
5.252 Used to cannot be used with other modals.
She used to get quite cross with Lily.
…these Westerns that used to do so well in Hollywood.
What did we use to call it?
However, used to can be used with the auxiliary verb do. This is explained in paragraphs 5.255 and 5.256.
Used is sometimes regarded as a modal, rather than used to. Used is then said to be followed by a to-infinitive.
5.253 Used to is used to say that something happened regularly or existed in the past, although it no longer happens or exists.
Used to is similar to would when it is used to describe repeated actions in the past. However, unlike would, used to can also describe past states and situations.
I’m not quite as mad as I used to be.
You used to bring me flowers all the time.
The use of would to talk about things that happened regularly in the past is dealt with in paragraph 5.112.
omitting the following verb phrase
5.254 Used to can be used on its own without a following verb phrase when it is clear from the context what the subject matter is.
People don’t work as hard as they used to.
I don’t feel British any more. Not as much as I used to.
negatives
5.255 Used to is not common in negative structures.
They didn’t use to mind what we did.
However, many people consider this use to be incorrect.
Another way to form the negative is to put never in front of used to.