Dare and need

Nowadays, dare and need are not commonly used as auxiliaries, but formerly, both were. "He dare not do it" is equivalent to today's "He doesn't/won't/wouldn't dare to do it," while "It need not happen today" is equivalent to today's "It doesn't need to happen today" or "It might not happen today." Nonetheless, need as an auxiliary is still somewhat in use today, while dare is now quite rare. Need as a modal is quite common in American English when used in the positive form and acts like the modals must and have to (eg. I need to lose weight/I must lose weight/I have to lose weight), but is almost never used in the negative form.