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09:10 Aug 12, 2009
English to English translations [PRO] Slang / Grammatically correct?
English term or phrase:needing done
The house need doing
The house needs to be done
The house is needing done
Assuming that the first two are correct, is the third? I used No. 3 last night and got rebuked (UK English) for using sub-standard language. Is this the case??
I put the question "not for points" because it is not in any way related to a job, just curiosity (and couldn't find the ansewr on Google...)
Explanation: As suggested in the discussion section, this form is very common in Scotland - I remember when I used to read the Beano and Dandy many years ago - both of which are published in Dundee - noticing that the characters were always saying things like "This fence is needing painted" or "This letter's needing posted"rather than "...needs painting/needs posting.." as in standard BE .
It's only sub-standard in the sense that it is a restricted usage (restricted to Scottish speakers).
...I was saying something and someone, a Russian national, looked at a native speaker quizzically which is when the rebuke came from the native speaker (appalled by my use of the vernacular. Seemingly only chavs (sp?) are expected to use the expression:-)
Andrea, it's a shame you got "rebuked" for using this construction - it shows you have a good idea for how people in your area speak! As I said in my answer, though, it is a "restricted", i.e dialectical/regional form, so maybe you were beiong advised not to use the construction in formal or written contexts, which is good advice!
Hi Jack, I didn't invent the expression, here (Central Scotland) it is widely used, so I must have picked it up from somewhere (at least I draw the line at "you was", "I says" or "you have went", very common as well). Perhaps I should choose my friends better??
If you google it, you get loads of hits (but that doesn't mean anything), so I am in good company... I will have to get it out of my head now (easier said than done...)
Automatic update in 00:
Answers
7 mins confidence: peer agreement (net): +1
First two OK, not third.
Explanation: "The house is needing done" is wrong. I don't see why you would want to use the present continuous here, but if you do, it would have to be "The house is needing to be done". But that still looks odd.
First one should actually be "The house needS doing" but I assume this is just a typo. It is a colloquial way of saying "The house needs to be done", a sort of slang but reasonably acceptable.
Jack Doughty Local time: 13:39 Meets criteria Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 12
Explanation: As suggested in the discussion section, this form is very common in Scotland - I remember when I used to read the Beano and Dandy many years ago - both of which are published in Dundee - noticing that the characters were always saying things like "This fence is needing painted" or "This letter's needing posted"rather than "...needs painting/needs posting.." as in standard BE .
It's only sub-standard in the sense that it is a restricted usage (restricted to Scottish speakers).
John Bowden Local time: 13:39 Does not meet criteria Native speaker of: English PRO pts in category: 4
Explanation: There is a slang form similar but it doesn't use a continuous form.
Typical form is to miss out the "to be" from the infinitive rather than use the progressive or gerund.
"It needs done"
The above would be quite acceptable in poetry and collquial speech though not in formal writing or speech.
Andycarruk Local time: 13:39 Meets criteria Native speaker of: English
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +1
