You need (to) say nothing about it.

[sitifan]

You ______ nothing about it.
(A) need say
(B) don't need to say
(C) need to say
(D) need not to say
Source: Ting-Chi Tang in English Question Box: An Introduction to Linguistic Analysis of English, p246.

The answer is option A. Is option C also acceptable?

 

[5jj]

Yes. 'Need' can function with negatives as a modal (A) or full verb (C).

 

[Tarheel]

Is that used in teaching English?

 

[sitifan]

Is that used in teaching English?

It WAS used in teaching English.

 

[Tarheel]

Well, it doesn't seem natural at all. If I had to say that I would probably say, "You don't need to say anything about it." Or something like that.

Maybe they could put me on the staff as a usage consultant.