Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[navi]

Which of these sentences is correct:

1-This car needs washing.
2-This car needs being washed.

3-You need taking care of.

4-You need his taking care of you.
5-You need somebody taking care of you.

[iitimone7]

...i need to get out my grammar textbook for this one.

#1 is the most correct, but i'll get back to you with an explanation.

iitimone7

[bud]

1. Yes.
2. I don't think so. If it is correct, it is certainly unusual. More likely is, " This car needs to be washed."

1 and 2 (as amended) are natural. Other possibilities:
This car needs a wash.
This car needs a washing.

3. Yes.
4. I'm pretty sure it's fine.
5. I'm pretty sure it's fine.

[river1974]

[bud]

It means , "You need to be taken care of."

[stellara]

shouldn't you rather say "you need to take care of" or "you need to be taken care of"?

this -ing form sounds a bit strange to me..

greets
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[iitimone7]

stellar - although it is a correct form (with -ing), it sounds strange to me, too!! i prefer to say that sentence the way that bud explained it. you don't have to use it if you don't like it. iitimone7