You probably don’t remember when you were a baby and began to say whatever you can to express your needs. Still, I bet you have seen other babies and even animals do it. Expressing our needs is an everyday task everybody should do. And, if you’re learning Spanish, using Necesitar is essential to get the job done. The Spanish word Necesitar is in the top 5 verbs every Spanish learner should add to their toolbox. Therefore, today we will teach you how to use it.
How to use Necesitar
The Spanish verb necesitar is simple to use. Often, we use it together with another verb when we want to express what someone or us need “to do”. We can conjugate necesitar in the indicative form, the imperative, or the subjunctive. Still, the tense you will use will depend on what you want to say. We don’t want you to get bored with just conjugations. Thus, we will just tell you how to conjugate Necesitar in the present tense using the indicative form.
Learning how to conjugate necesitar in the present tense is a great first step to moving forward and becoming better at speaking Spanish. That will also provide you with everything you need to learn faster and begin to get the best out of this fantastic language. Please, look at Necesitar conjugations in the present tense. If you already know how to do it, you can go to the next section.
Necesitar = Need
Yo necesito = I need
Tú necesitas = You need
Él/ Ella/ Usted necesita = He/ She needs
Nosotros necesitamos = We need
Vosotros necesitáis
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes necesitan = They need
Necesitar + Infinitive
The main formula we use to express when you need “to do something” is shown below
Subject + Necesitar (Indicative) + Verb (Infinitive) + Complement
As you may see, we use two verbs. The first verb is necesitar in the indicative form. The second verb must go in the infinitive form. Sometimes, the subject may be implicit in necesitar’s conjugation. Let’s see some examples
Yo necesito hablar ahora. / I need to talk now.
Sergio necesita trabajar. / Sergio needs to work.
Tú necesitas venir a la oficina./ You need to come to the office.
Necesitamos comer bien. / We need to eat well.
Ustedes necesitan hacer una reservación antes de ir al Hotel /
You need to make a reservation before going to the Hotel
Another way to use necesitar is when you want to express that you or someone “needs something”. To do it, you only need to use a noun after necesitar. Let’s look at the examples below.
Necesito dinero para el viaje. / I need money for the trip.
Necesitamos un coche nuevo. / We need a new car.
Ellas necesitan unos vestidos elegantes. / They need some elegant dresses.
In some cases, you may use necesitar as an equivalent to “Tener que”. Generally, we do it when we want to talk about to-do tasks. Let’s look at the following examples.
Tengo que comer antes de hacer ejercicios / I have to eat before working out
Necesito comer antes de hacer ejercicios / I need to eat before working out
How to give orders using Necesitar
Giving commands using necesitar isn’t that common at all. Still, you must know that it’s possible. In general, we use the indicative form but we add exclamations marks to catch everybody’s attention. For example, if we say “¡Necesitamos cambiar de trabajo!” (We need to change jobs!), it’s highly probable that someone will hear us expressing our needs.
If you want to give someone an advice you can also use the indicative form. For example, if you say “Necesitas estudiar mas” (You need to study more). Yet, when we use the imperative form, we conjugate necesitar in a different way. Since it isn’t common to give orders using necesitar, it might sound awkward in English as well as in Spanish. Grammatically, it’s correct but just may sound like something’s off. Here are some examples.
¡Necesita hacer la tarea! /You need to do your homework! (Tú/ you)
¡Necesite a su familia!/ Need your family! (Usted)
¡Necesitemos aprender a cocinar! / We need to learn to cook! (Nosotros/ We)
¡Necesiten un libro para la escuela! / Need a book for school! (Ustedes)
In summary, you can add necesitar to your toolbox just by learning how to conjugate it using the present tense. However, if you want to be two steps ahead, you should learn how to conjugate necesitar using el preterito perfecto and el futuro simple. On the other hand, learning other verbs to use together with necesitar is also a good idea. Never stop learning. It’s what gives life a meaning and will help you stand out in any environment.
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