Learn English – need be made vs need to be made

phrase-usagesemi-modals

"It needs to be made" is familiar, but "it needs be made" never heard of until a moment ago, and that's when @j-r wrote it in a comment. Is it standard or dialect, and if it's standard, is it informal?

J.R.'s snippet

  • " The overall thrust of this answer might have a little bit of merit, but it needs be made much less dogmatic to be accurate and helpful."

quotes from COCA

  • 2004-ACAD-TheologStud "…of the first spouse from the pagan
    marriage? The pope ruled that no inquiry need be made into the
    willingness of the pagan spouse to stay in the marriage,…"

  • 1999-FIC-ChicagoRev "…aren't too exuberant, but rather show
    moderation in your conduct, no objections need be made to your
    wishes, " was the reply, and so the Robber…"

  • 1993-SPOK-NPR_ATC "…tattoos on their skin or otherwise. It's not
    something that one would think need be made public to everyone around
    them. But what if he, for example…"

Update: need as a modal verb

Needn't = A short form of need not

-You needn't do the washing up.
-We needn't take coats with us.
-Tom needn't come if he doesn't want to.
-Diabetes needn't mean you can't enjoy your food.
-We needn't tidy up until tomorrow.

From Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary 3rd ed.

Best Answer

"Needs be made", in the context of your first quote, is just wrong, and most likely a typo in the comment. You're right, it should be "needs to be made".

However, "need be made" in the other three quotes is correct, albeit more formal and fairly rarely heard. Depending on the context, it can be equivalent to "needs to be made", "needed to be made" or "need to be made". In fact, it can probably cover any tense of "to need", and is something that the vast majority of people will be fine with just understanding it when it's used and not using it themselves.

Hope it helps :)

Related Topic