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Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak quote

Justyna Jupowicz-Kozak

CEO of Professional Science Editing for Scientists @ prosciediting.com

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needs to be retrieved

Grammar usage guide and real-world examples

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "needs to be retrieved" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when indicating that something must be collected or brought back, often in contexts involving data, information, or physical items. Example: "The lost files from the server needs to be retrieved before we can proceed with the project."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

10 human-written examples

He sees a bouncing ball that needs to be retrieved and relayed.

This program gives the byte a quick health-check to see whether a copy needs to be retrieved from a back-up tape on another network, probably a long way away, set up to guard against disasters such as earthquakes.

News & Media

The Economist

The electricity consumption and production data needs to be retrieved from the households' smart meters by a company that is certified as an independent service provider.

Specifically, with the map tile method, not all records in the constructed database needs to be retrieved to find the matching record, which improves the localization speed significantly.

Sophisticated storage protocols have been developed, always giving a tradeoff between the amount of data that needs to be stored in any of the storage nodes, and the amount of data that needs to be retrieved for repairing a lost node, also called repair bandwidth (see e.g. [8, 9]. for details), and codes lying on the storage-repair bandwidth tradeoff curve [8, 10] are called regenerating codes.

"Use your own mobile device for whatever research you need to do or [for that] boarding pass that needs to be retrieved," Siciliano says.

News & Media

Huffington Post
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Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

50 human-written examples

Neural data from the transfer test might be particularly useful in looking at retrieval of the learned schemas, as the schemas would theoretically need to be retrieved in order to integrate the new information into the pre-existing knowledge.

Science

eLife

These are easily imported, and so do not need to be retrieved once they are abandoned in international waters.

News & Media

The Guardian

Although, as Knight points out: "It only works if you've got an administration system that is capable of issuing the keys when they need to be issued, and retrieving the keys when they need to be retrieved".

Little seismic work has been completed, and core samples need to be retrieved from thousands of feet below the surface to judge how much oil or gas can be retrieved.

News & Media

The New York Times

Additional advantages of the biodegradable DDS are that they do not need to be retrieved and can be administered repeatedly.

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Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "needs to be retrieved", ensure the subject requiring retrieval is clearly defined to avoid ambiguity. For example, specify "the data needs to be retrieved" rather than just "it needs to be retrieved".

Common error

Avoid using "needs to be retrieved" in simple contexts where more direct language would suffice. For instance, instead of saying "the book needs to be retrieved from the shelf", consider "get the book from the shelf" for brevity.

Antonio Rotolo, PhD - Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Antonio Rotolo, PhD

Digital Humanist | Computational Linguist | CEO @Ludwig.guru

Source & Trust

80%

Authority and reliability

4.5/5

Expert rating

Real-world application tested

Linguistic Context

The phrase "needs to be retrieved" functions as a passive construction. It indicates that the subject of the sentence requires an action to be performed upon it, specifically the action of retrieval. This construction emphasizes the receiver of the action rather than the performer.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

60%

News & Media

30%

Wiki

10%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Reference

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "needs to be retrieved" is a grammatically sound and commonly used passive construction that indicates something must be obtained or recovered. Ludwig AI confirms its correctness and usability. It frequently appears in scientific and news-related contexts, maintaining a neutral to formal register. When using this phrase, ensure clarity by explicitly stating the subject requiring retrieval and consider more direct alternatives in simple contexts. Related phrases such as "must be recovered" or "has to be obtained" can offer nuanced variations in meaning or tone.

FAQs

How can I use "needs to be retrieved" in a sentence?

You can use "needs to be retrieved" to indicate that something must be collected or brought back. For example, "The information from the database "needs to be retrieved" for the report".

What is a less formal way to say "needs to be retrieved"?

Less formal alternatives include "should be collected", "has to be fetched", or simply "must be brought back", depending on the context.

Is "needs retrieved" grammatically correct instead of "needs to be retrieved"?

No, "needs retrieved" is not grammatically correct in standard English. The passive construction "needs to be retrieved" is the correct form.

What is the difference between "needs to be retrieved" and "must be retrieved"?

"Needs to be retrieved" indicates a requirement or necessity, while "must be retrieved" implies a stronger obligation or urgency. The choice depends on the degree of necessity you want to convey.

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Most frequent sentences: