If required vs if need be vs :) if necessary

The phrase “if need be” is a fixed phrase and I'd use it to mean “if necessary” or “if needed”. For the purposes of the letter you're describing ... Ifrequiredvsifneedbevs:)ifnecessary EnglishasaSecondLanguage EnglishVocabulary,GrammarandIdioms Tamara September8,2006,10:29am #1 Hi Iknowthatthepatternsareinuseandhavequitesimilarmeanings.AccordingwithBNC,Google,dictionariesandwhatImyselfread. Generally. Doyounormally/often/everusethesubjunctiveformifneedbe(oreven'ifneedwere:)) inwriting? Inparticular. Iamnowwritingananswertoane-mailthat,infact,isaquiteformallettercontainingsuchextraphrasesas‘Ishouldverymuchliketomeetyousometimesoon…’,‘Whenyouhavereceivedtheperhapsyoucould’andthelike. WhichexpressionwouldbebettertouseifIwanttoexpressthatbynow(inmyownunderstanding)Iseemtohavedoneallwhatwasrequiredbyformalrules,butforsomereasonsIsupposethattheotherpartcanrisesomeadditional(andessential!)requirements–justafterreadingmyanswer. Does‘…,ifrequired’expressthat? Yankee September8,2006,11:00am #2 HiTamara Thephrase“ifneedbe”isafixedphraseandI’duseittomean“ifnecessary”or“ifneeded”. Forthepurposesoftheletteryou’redescribing,itseemstomethatyoushouldstickwithsaying“ifnecessary”or“ifneeded”.ThosephrasesarequitestandardandIseenoreasonnottousetheminaformalletter. “Ifitain’tbroke,don’tfixit.”(Inotherwords,I’dsuggestyoudoyourexperimentingwith“ifneedbe”somewhereelsebeforeyoutrytoincludeitinanimportantletter.-OR-Giveusthewholesentencethatyouwanttouseitin.) I’dsayyoucoulduse“ifrequired”,butI’dstilltendtoprefer“ifnecessary”or“ifneeded”. Amy PS Iwouldneversay“ifneedwere”:shock: Tamara September8,2006,11:35am #3 HiAmy, “Ifitain’tbroke,don’tfixit.” Uh-huh. Anothergoodsayingis‘Perfectistheenemyofthegood’. I’vejustsentmyanswerwithifneeded. Thanksalot,Amy. P.S. Thephrase“ifneedbe”isafixedphraseandI’duseit… Iwouldneversay“ifneedwere” EvenintheReportedspeech(inthecasewhentheDirectonecontains‘ifneedbe’)? Yankee September8,2006,12:09pm #4 Tamara: Iwouldneversay“ifneedwere” EvenintheReportedspeech(inthecasewhentheDirectonecontains‘ifneedbe’)? No,Tamara,Iseriouslydoubtthatevenmyconstantexposuretoprescriptivegrammarbookswouldleadmetoreportthatphraseanyotherwaythan“ifneedbe”:lol: I’mquitecertainthatwhatwouldcomeoutofmysize=75[/size]mouthwouldbesomethinglike: “Hesaidhe’ddoitifneedbe.”:twisted::lol: ButIwouldn’thaveanytroublesaying: “Hesaidhe’ddoitifitwereneeded/necessary.” OR- “Hesaidhe’ddoitifneeded/necessary.”(Thatsolvesthewhole“BE”problemquiteneatly,doesn’tit?:lol::lol:) Amy Tom September8,2006,2:19pm #5 Amy,youdidnotsayanythingaboutifrequired?Isitsynonymouswithifneeded? Tom Yankee September8,2006,2:52pm #6 Yankee: I’dsayyoucoulduse“ifrequired”,butI’dstilltendtoprefer“ifnecessary”or“ifneeded”. HiTom Actually,Ididmention“asrequired”. It’sreallynotmuchdifferentfrom“ifneeded”,buttomethetoneofitis“harder”. Amy Tamara September9,2006,7:00am #7 HiAmy, Thankyoufortheexplanation. No,Tamara,Iseriouslydoubtthatevenmyconstantexposuretoprescriptivegrammarbookswouldleadmetoreportthatphraseanyotherwaythan“ifneedbe” Youareabsolutelyright,ifneedwereisn’tinuse,infact. I’vefounditonlywiththe(anditseemstobenotthatSubjunctiveform.Orwhat?) ToraisethecavalryforceneededinhisFrenchandScottishwars,EdwardIsoughttoextendtheprincipleofmilitaryobligationtoallmembersoftheknightlyclassandotherswhoheldlandwortheither?40ayearor,iftheneedwereespeciallypressing,?20. ©BNC Yankee September9,2006,8:36am #8 HiTamara Yes,exactly!Thewordsneedandwerecanbeusedtogether,Ijustwouldn’tchangethe“stand-alone”phrase“ifneedbe”. “…ifitwereneeded.” “…iftheneedwerenottoodire.” etc. Amy