need to be vs need doing

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Need to be' is used when referring to something that requires action or completion by someone. 'Need doing' is used when something requires action or completion in general, without specifying who will do it.

Last updated: March 31, 2024 • 1056 views

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"need to be "

This phrase is used when referring to something that requires action or completion by someone. For example, 'The dishes need to be washed.'

Examples:

The car needs to be fixed.
The report needs to be completed by Friday.
The room needs to be cleaned.

Show examples from the web [+]

In particular, renewable energies need to be promoted throughout Europe.
Scientific findings need to be made broadly available.
Health warnings need to be improved.
External border controls need to be rigorously enforced.
Therefore customers need to be regularly informed about this data.
Marine-protected areas also need to be managed more efficiently.
Both sides need to be investigated.
European resources need to be used efficiently.
Leak components need to be tested without additional oil involved.
When children misbehave, they need to be disciplined.
Everything you need to be brilliant.
Equivocal responses may need to be evaluated using additional animals.
The reporting requirements need to be clarified.
The regulations need to be adjusted accordingly.
They may also need to be quarantined.
I only need to be ready.
The envelopes need to be addressed and stamped.
No need to be so paranoid.
They need to be aggressive and threatening.
You just need to be electrifyingly pretty.

Alternatives:

must be
have to be
should be

This phrase is correct and commonly used in English.

"need doing"

This phrase is used when something requires action or completion in general, without specifying who will do it. For example, 'The garden needs weeding.'

Examples:

The house needs cleaning.
The lawn needs mowing.
The clothes need washing.

Show examples from the web [+]

This job you need doing... Cold feet,
This job you need doing...
I need strong Irish backs for the things I need doing.
These foreign cleaners are dropping like flies. I need strong Irish backs for the things I need doing.
I was wondering if you had some chores that might need doing.
Perhaps the first thing that you will need doing is to request a vehicle history report.
The things he's doing are things that need doing.
Then of course there are so many other things that need doing: prepare the bivy, make something to eat, check the gear...
You know which of the first 50 actions we need doing?
However, the labour force coming from those countries that have been slow to develop is for the most part ill-equipped for the jobs that our economies need doing.
It seems to me that the current government of Nicaragua is doing many of the things that need doing in order to address this problem.
Going through the space in an 組織 Audit creates a list of all those little things that need doing. This allows you to schedule priorities and work at your own pace to end up with an organized home.
Is there anything else that you need doing, Sire?
To move our continent forward, to do the things that need doing that I talked about - getting young people employed.
Providing code is not the only way of contributing to the project; for a more complete list of things that need doing, please refer to the FreeBSD Project web site.
There was actually quite a bit of work Dogville didn't need doing that its residents would have to carry out for themselves in future
In fact, it turned out there were not so few things that the other townsfolk of Dogville didn't need doing either
List the things which need doing and ask each person to take responsibility for the different tasks. What do I know about Spain and Spanish culture?
Because the demographics are really going to leave us with lots of jobs that need doing and that we, our society, is going to have to be built on the shoulders of steel of robots in the future.
This is much neglected within the Union and there are many things which need doing in schools, the infrastructure sector, the care sector, health care and in the care of the elderly which could give the EU's 20 million unemployed meaningful employment.

Alternatives:

needs to be done
requires doing
needs attention

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need to be vs need doing

"need to be "

"need doing"

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