Used to

[pne]

What spelling do you use in the following sentences?

NB For the purposes of grammar, please answer with what you would say (i.e. I'm looking for best written approximation of spoken English, not "standard written English" answers).

Also, I see that the "When it started out" sentence is not a good example; please disregard the exact wording and choose what you would use for the negative of "used to". (Can anyone suggest a good example? "When we were kids, we didn't used to have this sort of thing", perhaps? I can't think of a good example off the top of my head.)

And in general, I'm not asking whether you'd use the exact wording in a given sentence, but trying to elicit which form of "used to" you'd use in a given situation.

[Poll #430362]

Comments

[blob.livejournal.com]

"Well, it was be better at one point, but it got worse very quickly."

"When it started out, it didn't suck this badly."

People who write "use to" make me want to cry.

[jordik.livejournal.com]

Seconded mostly. I seldom (if ever) use 'use(d) to'.

[pne.livejournal.com]

People who write "use to" make me want to cry

What about "didn't use to"?

After all, "didn't used to" makes about as much sense as saying "He didn't used the knife; he used the fork."

So if you're going to say "I didn't use to like liquorice, but I do now", then you should write it without a -d IMO if you're going to record your speech.

[blob.livejournal.com]

Naa, I just meant in sentences such as, "I use to do this". *shudder* Some people seem to think it's never "used". Obviously in sentences with "didn't" or "did", "use" is used. (Although I wouldn't say "I did use to", I'd just say "I used to".)

[blob.livejournal.com]

PS - The word "use(d)" looks weird now.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Obviously in sentences with "didn't" or "did", "use" is used.

I didn't find that so obvious... I was really unsure what to put. I think this is because the "official" construction is "used not to" rather than "didn't use(d) to".

(Although I wouldn't say "I did use to", I'd just say "I used to".)

I might use it when I want to emphasise something. Consider the difference between "I cleaned up my room" and "I did clean up my room!"; the second might be a response to "You didn't clean up your room, so you can't go out tonight".

[blob.livejournal.com]

I'm not very good at explaining myself. :) When I said, "Obviously in sentences with 'didn't' or 'did', 'use' is used", I meant that if you're going to use the verb 'to use', you're not going to say 'I did(n't) used to', you're going to say 'I did(n't) use to'.

Yeah, good point about emphasis, although I think "Well, I USED to" has the same kind of emphasis/meaning as "Well, I did USE to" in spoken English. With other verbs, though, like 'to clean', I agree that the 'did' is needed to convey the emphasis.