Is the usage correct?-Do the needful
Please "do the needful". Does this word exist in the current usage? I have seen people using this usage in the formal letters. An Australian native speaker told me that the word "do the needful" is incorrect and suggested me to use the phrase "do what is required/necessary" in future. Are there any other phrases to use it?
sanjay
Expert
1 answer 
Of the bunch, I am the architect (and cultural landscape historian in my spare time). I live in California -- the San Francisco Bay Area.
In general, Californians have a somewhat neutral accent similar to Tolley's New Mexico. However, parts of California have been settled in waves of migration from other places in the United States. So in various regions, you still find strong Southern, Texan, or Midwest flavors.
I almost found myself in Pune, India about four years ago. I was in Beruit, Lebanon for project meetings -- a biomedical research laboratory and Health Sciences College in Saudi Arabia. For an afternoon, it appeared that I might have to fly to Pune to meet with some of the engineers. In the end, it was decided that the engineers would fly to Lebanon. If I remember, Pune is almost 900 kilometers north of Bangalore and closer to the coast -- right Sanjay?
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answered May 25 '12 at 19:41
Jeff Pribyl
Grammarly Fellow
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I was wondering whether all the experts could come to India and conduct some workshops on communicative English.
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I'm not an architect. Just a retired guy with time on my hands and a new wife keeping me busy fixing up the house and yard. I build furniture and other things out of wood to pick up a little extra money 'Archaic' doesn't have anything to do with architecture, but means old and out of date.Other phrases:Do the right thing.Do what is right.These are more descriptive of morality, rather than necessity.An old friend is originally from Bangalore, but he's now a US citizen. I met him when he was in graduate school, and he talked about going home after he got his degree, but that was almost 30 years ago. He now has a successful technology business in the Washington, D.C., area. I live in Arkansas, by the way.
– Lewis Neidhardt – May 25 '12 at 12:58Very nice of you. Thanks a lot. Please come around when you are in Bangalore. I will be very grateful to you. I don't know how to thank you for all your help. In India, we find it very difficult to get a right teacher. English institutes always lead me up the garden path when you go there to learn English.
– sanjay – May 25 '12 at 13:12English institutes always lead everyone up the garden path when they go there to learn English. They themselves don't know correct English and they squeeze money from us claiming that they teach us American Accent.
– sanjay – May 25 '12 at 13:18The only real way to learn one of the many (yes, many) American accents is to spend time in the area where the language interests you. In Lewis' area, you would learn the Ozark accent, which is quite similar to the East Texas/Northern Louisiana/Mississippi accent. In my area, the accent is very plain for English. It is call Southwestern Neutral. Since Spanish is a legally recognized language, the English is quite affected by Spanish, especially in the Hispanic culture. You could learn the accents of Minnesota, Boston, New York, California. . .
– Tolley – May 25 '12 at 16:11 add comment