Hay personas con muchas necesidades.
Some people have a lot of needs.
Talking about people, necesidades are the basics they lack: food, a home, a little help. Here the noun is plural.
From 9-1-1 · Spanish audio
Spanish vocabularyA1 · Beginner
How to say "need" in Spanish
la necesidad
noun: la necesidadfeminineverb: necesitarI need: necesito
"Need" in Spanish is la necesidad as a noun and necesitar as a verb. In everyday talk you'll use the verb most: necesito means "I need", as in Necesito dormir. When something isn't needed, say No hay necesidad.
Hear "necesidad" and "necesitar" in real scenes
One noun, two verb forms. Each video starts and stops on that line.
¿Qué necesitas?
What do you need?
Two words are enough to find out what someone is missing. Necesitas is the tú form of necesitar.
From Friends · Spanish audio
Necesito dormir.
I need to sleep.
Late at night this is the line you reach for, and the infinitive dormir follows necesito with no word in between.
From Grey's Anatomy · Spanish audio
Saying what you need
Six short phrases that cover most situations.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| Necesito tiempo. | I need time. |
| Necesito dormir. | I need to sleep. |
| ¿Qué necesitas? | What do you need? |
| ¿Necesitas ayuda? | Do you need help? |
| No hay necesidad. | There's no need. |
| Me hace falta un café. | I need a coffee. |
Tip: Hacer falta works like gustar, so the verb agrees with what you need: Me hace falta un café, but Me hacen falta dos horas.
Grammar: la necesidad and necesitar
The noun, the verb, and the two patterns you'll use daily.
Nouns in -dad are feminine
la necesidad, like la ciudad. Plural: las necesidades.Necesitar is a regular -ar verb
necesito, necesitas, necesita, necesitamos, necesitáis, necesitan.Need to + verb
Put the infinitive right after it: Necesito dormir. Necesitas comer. English "to" has no Spanish partner here.No hay necesidad de...
To wave something off, say no hay necesidad. Add de to name it: No hay necesidad de esto.Example sentences
Sentences from the Wordy Spanish course. Tap to listen.
Necesito veinte minutos.
I need twenty minutes.
¿Necesitas ayuda?
Do you need help?
Aquí hay necesidad de tiendas.
There's a need for shops here.
No hay necesidad de esto.
There's no need for this.
Common mistakes
Mistakes learners make with this word, and how to fix them.
✗Necesito a dormir
✓Necesito dormir
Nothing goes between necesito and the infinitive, so leave out the a.
✗el necesidad
✓la necesidad
The -dad ending always means a feminine noun.
✗No hay necesidad por esto
✓No hay necesidad de esto
Necesidad links to the thing with de, never with por.
Practice: 3 quick exercises
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How to remember it
Necesitar and necesidad look like necessary and necessity. If something is necessary, lo necesito.
Questions about "need" in Spanish
How do you say need in Spanish?
The verb is necesitar, and "I need" is necesito. The noun, a need, is la necesidad.
How do you say "I need help" in Spanish?
Necesito ayuda. To offer help, ask ¿Necesitas ayuda?
How do you say "there's no need" in Spanish?
No hay necesidad. Name the thing with de: No hay necesidad de esto.
How do you say "I need to" in Spanish?
Use necesito plus the infinitive, with nothing in between: Necesito comer.
