When we use used to, we are talking about something which
happened regularly or was true at an earlier stage in our lives
but which is now over.
Thus,
it can only be used in the past tense. If we want to talk about
present habits or states, we simply use the present simple tense.
With
the negative we often say never used to in preference to
didn't use to or used not to - in an informal register.
Study the following examples:
'Do you remember? There used to be fields of clover
where those houses are now.'
'I never used to smoke, but now I smoke twenty a day.'
'You used to play chess with your friends, but nowadays
you play chess with your computer.'
'I used to buy really expensive make-up, but that was
when I was working full-time.'
To
make questions, we use the normal auxiliary did. Note that
used to cannot be used in question tag form. Note also the
possible/probable replies to used to questions.
Study
the following examples:
'Did you use to go ice-skating when you were young?'
'No, I never did.'
'Didn't you use to ring the school to say you were ill
and then play poker with Sam?' 'I sometimes did, yeah!'
'You used to do ballet in the church hall, didn't you?'
'Yes, I did. Every Saturday between the ages of nine and
twelve.'
be
used to + noun or -ing get used to + noun or -ing
If
somebody gets or is used to something, he becomes or
is fully familiar with it. It is no longer strange or awkward. It
can refer to past, present or future experiences. Study the following:
'These are very high heels, I know, but I'm sure you'll get
used to (wearing) them.'
'I wasn't used to living
in such a small flat and I found it really hard at first.'
'I'm used to all the noise now, but I'd always lived
in the country before, you see, where it is very quiet.'
'I never got used to shaking hands with people all the
time when I lived there. It's just not the custom in our country.'
'Are you getting used to the accent now? It's very different
from standard English, isn't it?
In
all of the above examples be or get used to can be
replaced by be or become accustomed to which is very
similar in meaning, if a little more formal.
Read
through them again using these replacement verbs. So, just to recap
and confirm:
'When I lived in Mexico, I used to drinktequila
at every opportunity.' (A regular habit then, but probably not
now.)
'I found it quite a strong drink at first, but I soon got
used to it.' (It quickly became quite palatable.)
