I don't see what being animate/inanimate has to do with need, and if need is bad, then must is maybe worse. How can something inanimate "must" anything? But the answer is in your phrasing. "The house must be washed." is a passive sentence. Someone else is doing the action, so really "must" is referring to this assumed doer.two_heads_talking wrote:
@Tony, I've always found it odd that people use need for inanimate objects. The house must be washed sounds so much better to me than needs to be.. As if the house has needs.. lol
A rock needs to be moved. Same thing.