Irregular Verb - To dare
Meaning: to have sufficient encourage
Conjugation of Dare:
| Base Form: | Dare | ||||
| Past Simple: | Dared/Durst | ||||
| Past Participle: | Dared | ||||
| 3rd Person Singular: | Dares | ||||
| Present Participle/Gerund: | Daring |
Dare and need
Dare and need are not commonly used as auxiliaries nowadays, but formerly they both were. Neither is used in affirmative declarative sentences. An example in an exclamation is "How dare he!", expressing willingness in the face of fear or contrary obligation. The interrogative form "Dare he do it?" or "Need he do it?" is equivalent to the non-auxiliary form "Does he dare to do it?" or "Does he need to do it?"; need, of course, expresses necessity. In a negative context "He dare not do it" is equivalent to "He does not dare to do it", while "He need not do it" is equivalent to "He does not need to do it". In both cases it is the modal or entire verb phrase, rather than the main verb, that is being negated.
However, in the sentence "He does not dare to lose weight" or "He needs to lose weight," dare or need is not being used as an auxiliary, as (1) it takes the full infinitive "to lose" as the head of the verb phrase rather than the bare infinitive "lose" that occurs in a sentence like "He can lose weight", (2) it is conjugated in the third person singular, and (3) it can take the auxiliary "does".
In its use as a modal auxiliary in the negative, need has a form using "have" that shifts the time reference to the past ("he need not have done that"); alternatively, the non-modal form can be substituted, as in "He needed to not do that". However, the modal "dare" cannot be given a past time meaning using "have" (one cannot say "He dare not have done that"); instead, the non-modal form must be substituted, as in "He did not dare to do that").
You say that: "However, the modal "dare" cannot be given a past time meaning using "have" (one cannot say "He dare not have done that"); instead, the non-modal form must be substituted, as in "He did not dare to do that")."
ReplyDeleteThen how would you make the difference which is found between these two:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dare
The auxiliary forms differ subtly in meaning from the main verb forms in that they emphasize the attitude or involvement of the speaker while the main verb forms present a more objective situation. Thus How dare you operate this machinery without proper training? expresses indignation at the action, whereas How do you dare to operate this machinery without proper training? is a genuine request for information.