Didn't have to

[Rachel Adams]

Can I use "didn't have to" in these examples instead of "didn't need to"?

I asked a similar question on WR. It has no answers. It would be helpful to know different opinions.

"But we also use didn't need to to say that something was not necessary under circumstances where it was not done:

The sun came out so we didn't need to take any rainwear on the trip. Or "we didn't have to".?

We had plenty of petrol in the tank so I didn't need to fill up. "We didn't have to". ?

We didn't need to wait for long for them. They arrived just after us." "We didn't have to." ?

The examples are from

BBC World Service | Learning English | Learn it

Answers to your questions. This question: Needn't have and didn't need to

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Tarheel]

I think they are pretty much interchangeable in most situations.

 

[Rover_KE]

I asked a similar question on WR. It has no answers. It would be helpful to know different opinions.

You had had one reply before you posted here.

In any case, please wait at least 24 hours before deciding replies in the other forum are not good enough for you and then give us a link to WR so we can read them for ourselves.

Thread locked.