The word need refers to a demand, an essential requirement, or an urge that must be fulfilled. Psychologists use the term need to describe human needs, which they consider to be psychologically basic. Abraham Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of human needs posits that people must satisfy basic physiological or lower order needs such as food, water and shelter before higher order needs such as belonging and self-esteem can be fulfilled. The concept of need is also used in business to refer to the need for products or services that a company or organization produces.
The terms need and necessity are similar but have different connotations: need is more emotional, implying urgency or imperative demand, while necessity is more formal and impersonal, although it can also be strong in emotion. Some languages use the terms more broadly to include demands or requirements that may not be urgent or obligatory, for example, a language might be in need of reform.
To be precise, the difference between a need and a want is that needs are usually static – they do not change much from day to day (i.e. a person must always need to stay hydrated), while wants can vary. For example, a person will need to sleep somewhere every night but the type of accommodation they require can change depending on their needs at any given time (i.e. a basic hostel is adequate for sleeping but they might prefer a five-star hotel).
Some psychologists also suggest that needs are subjective, whereas others, such as Martha Nusbaum, argue that there are objectively measurable human needs and that individuals are capable of developing their own strategies to fulfil these needs. These are often based on the capacity approach, which considers the internal “assets” of an individual, such as their physical health, mental strength and education, rather than relying on external factors.
When to use the articles a, an and the
The article a is used with singular countable nouns that have a plural form or an irregular plural, for example, books. The article an is used with uncountable nouns that do not have a plural or are general, for example, love. The article the is used with some uncountable nouns that do not require a specific number, for example, languages, meals and names of places.
The articles a and an are used in conjunction with adjectives and modifiers, such as big or bad, to indicate the correct noun for that particular context. These must be placed in the correct order, for example, the wolf is a big animal so it requires the adjective large before it; however, the pig is a small animal and does not require an adjective of any kind. The article the is also used with proper nouns such as names of people and places and some other nouns that are definite, for example, a house. Other nouns do not require an article at all, including concepts, sports, languages, and even decades.