If needed | UsingEnglish.com ESL Forum

if necessary is not really stronger or more formal. The difference is in meaning. Let me try to give you a simple rule (that may not always be ... Home Forums What'snew Members Login Register What'snew Search Newposts Searchforums Help Rules Menu Login Register Installtheapp Install Forums LearningEnglish AskaTeacher Youareusinganoutofdatebrowser.Itmaynotdisplaythisorotherwebsitescorrectly.Youshouldupgradeoruseanalternativebrowser. Ifneeded Threadstarter LittleGirl Startdate May25,2019 L LittleGirl JuniorMember Joined Feb4,2009 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage Persian HomeCountry Iran CurrentLocation Pakistan Hi,everyone. Ihavetwoquestions: 1.Is"ifneeded"followedbyacommawhenatthestartofasentence? 2.Isthereadifferenceinmeaningbetween"ifneeded"and"ifnecessary"?Iknowthat"ifnecessary"isstrongerandmoreformal,butIwonderifithasaspecificconnotation. Thanks.   T Tarheel VIPMember Joined Jun16,2014 MemberType InterestedinLanguage NativeLanguage AmericanEnglish HomeCountry UnitedStates CurrentLocation UnitedStates 1.Idon'tthinkI'veeverstartedasentencevwithifneeded,butifdidI'dprobablyuseacomma. 2.Probablynot.   Lastedited:May25,2019 jutfrank VIPMember Joined Mar5,2014 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry England CurrentLocation England 1)Yes. 2)Usually,yes.ifnecessaryisnotreallystrongerormoreformal.Thedifferenceisinmeaning. Letmetrytogiveyouasimplerule(thatmaynotalwaysbereliableinordinarylanguage)tohelpyouunderstandwhatIseeasthebasicdifference. ifneededtalksaboutthenecessityofaperson/thingtoasituation ifnecessarytalksaboutthenecessityofacourseofactiontoasituation a)Icanlendyousomemoneyifneeded. b)Icanlendyoumoneyifnecessary. Ina)itismoneythatmaybeneeded. Inb)itislendingmoneythatmaybenecessary.   L LittleGirl JuniorMember Joined Feb4,2009 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage Persian HomeCountry Iran CurrentLocation Pakistan Andwhatifweuse"to"after"needed"?Canwestillnotsay"Icanlendyousomemoneyifneededto"?   Lasteditedbyamoderator:May25,2019 R Rover_KE Moderator Staffmember Joined Jun20,2010 MemberType RetiredEnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry England CurrentLocation England It'sincorrecttoadd'to'.   T Tarheel VIPMember Joined Jun16,2014 MemberType InterestedinLanguage NativeLanguage AmericanEnglish HomeCountry UnitedStates CurrentLocation UnitedStates Surelyy'allcancomeupwithabetterexamplethanthat.Imeanwhenhaveyoueverfelttheneedtoloansomebodymoney? ;-)   jutfrank VIPMember Joined Mar5,2014 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry England CurrentLocation England Tarheelsaid: Surelyy'allcancomeupwithabetterexamplethanthat. Clicktoexpand... Bemyguest...   L LittleGirl JuniorMember Joined Feb4,2009 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage Persian HomeCountry Iran CurrentLocation Pakistan jutfranksaid: 1)Yes. 2)Usually,yes.ifnecessaryisnotreallystrongerormoreformal.Thedifferenceisinmeaning. Letmetrytogiveyouasimplerule(thatmaynotalwaysbereliableinordinarylanguage)tohelpyouunderstandwhatIseeasthebasicdifference. ifneededtalksaboutthenecessityofaperson/thingtoasituation ifnecessarytalksaboutthenecessityofacourseofactiontoasituation a)Icanlendyousomemoneyifneeded. b)Icanlendyoumoneyifnecessary. Ina)itismoneythatmaybeneeded. Inb)itislendingmoneythatmaybenecessary. Clicktoexpand... Thatruledoesseemtomakesense,butIrecentlyhappenedtoreadabunchofsentences,whilelookingforthecorrectuse,with"ifneeded"referringtoacourseofaction,oneofwhich,asIremember,wentlike"Ifneeded,Icancomeearly.". Sodoyouthinkthatthisruleisnotstrictlyfollowedtoday,evenbymanyskilledwriters,andisthereforenotreallysohardandfast? Howabout"ifneedbe"bythewayifwefollowtherule?Coulditbeareplacementfor"ifnecessary"?Idon'tseeorhearitveryoften,though.   Phaedrus KeyMember Joined Jul19,2012 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry UnitedStates CurrentLocation UnitedStates LittleGirlsaid: Andwhatifweuse"to"after"needed"?Canwestillnotsay"Icanlendyousomemoney[strike]ifneededto[/strike]"? Clicktoexpand... Youcouldsay: Icanlendyousomemoneyifyouneedmeto.   T Tarheel VIPMember Joined Jun16,2014 MemberType InterestedinLanguage NativeLanguage AmericanEnglish HomeCountry UnitedStates CurrentLocation UnitedStates LittleGirlsaid: Andwhatifweuse"to"after"needed"?Canwe[STRIKE]westill[/STRIKE]say"Icanlendyousomemoneyifyouneedmeto"? Clicktoexpand... Withthechanges,it'sfine. (Pleasepayattentiontoallthecorrections,includingthecrossouts.) LittleGirl,Icangetthroughaday,aweek,amonth,evenawholeyearwithoutusingifneeded.   T tedmc VIPMember Joined Apr16,2014 MemberType InterestedinLanguage NativeLanguage Chinese HomeCountry Malaysia CurrentLocation Malaysia Ithink"ifrequired",whichissimilarinmeaning,ismuchmorecommon.   L LittleGirl JuniorMember Joined Feb4,2009 MemberType EnglishTeacher NativeLanguage Persian HomeCountry Iran CurrentLocation Pakistan LittleGirlsaid: Thatruledoesseemtomakesense,butIrecentlyhappenedtoreadabunchofsentences,whilelookingforthecorrectuse,with"ifneeded"referringtoacourseofaction,oneofwhich,asIremember,wentlike"Ifneeded,Icancomeearly.". Sodoyouthinkthatthisruleisnotstrictlyfollowedtoday,evenbymanyskilledwriters,andisthereforenotreallysohardandfast? Howabout"ifneedbe"bythewayifwefollowtherule?Coulditbeareplacementfor"ifnecessary"?Idon'tseeorhearitveryoften,though. Clicktoexpand... Butmyquestionshereremainunanswered.   R Rover_KE Moderator Staffmember Joined Jun20,2010 MemberType RetiredEnglishTeacher NativeLanguage English HomeCountry England CurrentLocation England It'spossibletostart'Ifneedbe,...','Ifneedsbe,...'or'Ifneedsmust,...,butliketheotheralternatives,asyouhavereadintheotherpostsinthisthread,noneofthemareseenorheardveryoften.   T Tarheel VIPMember Joined Jun16,2014 MemberType InterestedinLanguage NativeLanguage AmericanEnglish HomeCountry UnitedStates CurrentLocation UnitedStates LittleGirl,Iwouldusesomethingthatcomesmorenaturaltome.Whatthatwouldbespecificallywouldofcoursedependoncontext.   Youmustloginorregistertoreplyhere. Share: Facebook Twitter Reddit Pinterest Tumblr WhatsApp Email Share Link Forums LearningEnglish AskaTeacher Trustpilot Top