What is the difference between necessary and need ? Summary of everyone's answers

Here is a list of questions and answers on HiNative about What is the difference between necessary and need ?. HiNative allows you to ask native speakers all about English (US).

“Need”は動詞で、”necessary”は形容詞です。“Need”は主観的な意味ですが、”necessary”は客観的な意味です。

“It is necessary that people sleep for 8 hours every night.”
“I need coffee in the morning to wake up.”

Highly-rated answerer

Need is more personal and informal. Necessary is very formal. So often, you'll see sentences where I, she/he need something. But it is neccessary for a business or corporation to have something. The business doesn't want to sound "needy" but things are still necessary for them.

I need beer. I need money.
I have a need for good 焼き鳥!

Beer is necessary for a good party.

Bringing a friend is not necessary, but you'll have more fun.

Highly-rated answerer

Necessary is an adjective. Need can be either a verb or a noun.

Food is necessary to survive.

I need food to survive.

I have an urgent need for food.

"Is this necessary for the show?"

"Mom, I need this"

"Necessary" is more of a word for something being appropriate. "Need" is something that is required, more of a command word

bhappa7 is right on. "Money is a necessary evil." (I'm showing off the adjective a bit more)

its "necesary" drink water
i "need" drink water

For the most part they are very similar they both mean that it’s required, but necessarily is usually used for tasks and need is usually used when talking about physical objects. They can be used both ways though.

for something to be necessary means it would make sense to have it, and to need something is to not be able to go without it.

They are both basically the same. "Needed" is more commonly used as the past tense of "to need", so it might be more clear to use "necessary" in your sentence- "parents' consent is necessary for the legal act of minors"
"Needed" is usually used like this: "I needed to eat" or "She needed to leave"
"Necessary" is usually used like this: "It is necessary to bring your bag" "It is necessary to be on time for work" :)

Thanks! I understood.

Necessary; Water is necessary to survive.

Need; You need water to survive

There’s not much difference just one is more extreme than the other, saying something is necessary is saying you need it to do something else.

Well, they mean the same thing. You’d use ’necessary’ when you absolutely need something that can threaten your life. ”It is necessary that you eat”. When we use ’need’, it can also mean necessary but Americans often use it as a persuasive word. ”I need that toy”, ”You need that makeup”.

I need food.
Food is necessary to live.

I have a need for water, food and air. Me, personally. But water, food and air are necessary for life. Does that make sense?

You can use either of them since they are basically the same, but there are differences in the WAY they're used.

[Need] can be a verb or a noun.
Verb: "I need water to survive."
Noun: "I have a need for food" or "He has his day to day needs."

[Necessary] can be a noun or an adjective.
Noun: "It's necessary to wear comfortable clothes" or "Experience is necessary."
Adjective: "He was a necessary sacrifice."

I hope this helped.

Highly-rated answerer

Need is verb.
Necessary is adjective.

Need can be used as a noun, ex. "There is no need to do it".
Some another examples:
"I need to buy some bread, unless I do it I won't have anything to eat tommorow"
"Eating vegetables is necessary to stay healthy"

みなさん ありがとうございます😊

they both mean the same thing, but are used in different ways

"Drinking water is necessary to live"

"People need to drink water to live"

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