Used To

Share on Facebook

HSS

#357930 Mon, 30 Apr 07 11:29 AM

Dear Friends,

[1] I used to go to the movies often when I was in college.

How would you put the sentence above into a negative or question form? I'm curious.

I'd say, for the negative,

[2-1] I usedn't to go to the movie often when I was in college,

[2-2] I didn't used to go to the movies often when I was in college.

For the interrogative, I would say,

[3-1] Used you to go to the movies often when you were in college?,

[3-2] Did you used to go to the movies often when you were in college?

Best wishes,

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

HSS

Joined on Wed, Nov 16 2005

Sendai, Japan

Regular Member (501)

JH7JHH, First Class ham radio operator. N9COW in the US.

Negatives

Cool Breeze

#357932 Mon, 30 Apr 07 11:48 AM

Hi HSS

This has been discussed in a number of posts. You may be interested enough to read a thread I started a long time ago. The structure you are inquiring about is in the second sentence. To sum it all up, some would accept everything you mention and even Did you use to go to the movies...? Others reject some of your structures, it all depends on whom you ask.

There is no Language Academy, there is no agreement.

Cheers
CB

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (2,962)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Numbers, Whom

HSS

#357945 Mon, 30 Apr 07 12:35 PM

Oh, thanks, CB.

I will see the thread. My mouth utters "didn't used to" and "Did you used to," and when the other way around, I get my tongue tied somehow.

Best,

Hiro

HSS

Yankee

#357996 Mon, 30 Apr 07 02:37 PM

HSS wrote:
Dear Friends,

[1] I used to go to the movies often when I was in college.

How would you put the sentence above into a negative or question form? I'm curious.

I'd say, for the negative,

[2-1] I usedn't to go to the movies often when I was in college, I would not say this and I cannot recall ever having heard or read it, either.

or

[2-2] I didn't use(d) to go to the movies often when I was in college. These are the most common versions.

For the interrogative, I would say,

[3-1] Used you to go to the movies often when you were in college?,I would not say this and I cannot recall ever having heard or read it, either.

or

[3-2] Did you use(d) to go to the movies often when you were in college? These are the most common versions.

Best wishes,

Hiro/ Sendai, Japan

My comments reflect usage in AmE. As far as I know, most prescriptive grammars still claim that for questions and negative sentences, the correct form is with did + use to.

Yankee

Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006

Connecticut, USA

Senior Member (4,263)

Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Negatives

HSS

#358003 Mon, 30 Apr 07 02:54 PM

Hi, Amy.

Not even "didn't used to," but "didn't use to"? Okay, I see. You may more often say simply "didn't go to the movies often," may you not?

Best,

Hiro

HSS

Yankee

#358015 Mon, 30 Apr 07 03:16 PM

Hi Hiro

Yes, you can use the simple past tense and an adverb such as often or regularly to indicate that something didn't happen often in the past (and therefore was not habitual).

The negative form of "used to" is often used when something was not habitual in the past, but is habitual now:

He didn't use to forget my birthday when we were dating.
(But now that we're married, he never remembers it.) Surprise [:O]

Yankee

Verbs, Tenses, Adverbs, Negatives, Simple past, Past tenses