Date: Fri, 7 Apr 1995 17:40:00 -0600

From: Katherine Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BGA.COM

Subject: Re: needs + present participle



At 7:59 AM 4/7/95 -0400, Dennis.Preston wrote:

In my expereiece, the farther you go south of the usual north versus south

midlands boundary, the less likly you are to hear need + past.part (e.g.,

needs washed).



I've lived most of my 36 years in the south and had certainly never heard

of this construction before it was brought up here. In fact I would have

guessed it was not just an ungrammatical construction but an impossible,

syntactically meaningless one.



Live and learn. BTW, I was born in Utah and my father and many other close

relatives are native Utahns, so I don't guess it's common there, either.



Kate Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bga.com