{"id":1154,"date":"2014-01-07T21:25:57","date_gmt":"2014-01-08T03:25:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=1154"},"modified":"2021-05-11T10:07:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T15:07:45","slug":"i-dont-use-use-to-but-i-used-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/effective-writing\/i-dont-use-use-to-but-i-used-to\/","title":{"rendered":"Used To vs. Use To: I Don\u2019t Use Use To<\/em> but I Used To"},"content":{"rendered":"

The confusion over used to<\/em> versus use to<\/em> is largely due to the casual way we talk to each other. Unless the speaker makes a determined effort to say \u201cused [pause] to,\u201d the d at the end of \u201cused\u201d gets swallowed by the stronger t sound. Usually, when someone says something like \u201cI used to read more,\u201d anything from \u201cuse to\u201d to \u201cyoosta\u201d is what we hear.<\/p>\n

So is use to<\/em> ever grammatical? Many authorities, including most of those found online, say use to<\/em> is correct only in one special case: when it is preceded by did<\/em>, did not<\/em>, or didn\u2019t<\/em>, as in, Did you use to live nearby<\/em>? or He didn\u2019t use to be a writer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In all other cases\u2014i.e., most of the time\u2014used to<\/em> is the only option.<\/p>\n

Use To<\/em> or Used To<\/em><\/h2>\n

You\u2019d think that would settle it. However, one finds dissension among eminent twentieth-century English scholars. In The Careful Writer<\/em> (1983), Theodore M. Bernstein verifies did use to<\/em> and didn\u2019t use to<\/em>, but adds that \u201cemploying use<\/em> in this sense, though common in conversation, lacks grace in writing.\u201d Roy H. Copperud concurs: in A Dictionary of Usage and Style<\/em> (1967), he writes that with did<\/em> and didn\u2019t<\/em>, \u201cthe form is use to<\/em>, though such constructions are clumsy and best avoided.\u201d But Bryan A. Garner, in A Dictionary of Modern American Usage<\/em> (1998), takes issue: \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be written didn\u2019t use to<\/em>.\u201d And John B. Bremner, in Words on Words<\/em> (1980), states flatly, \u201cSome otherwise respectable authorities notwithstanding, the use of use to<\/em> instead of used to<\/em> is barbaric.\u201d<\/p>\n

The best advice is to rewrite. Instead of Did you use to live nearby?<\/em> one might say Did you ever live nearby?<\/em> Instead of He didn\u2019t use to be a writer<\/em>, how about He never used to be a writer<\/em>. Such easy fixes are painless ways around a prickly mini-controversy.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz<\/h3>\n

Fix any of the following sentences that need it.<\/p>\n

1. There are four times as many rocks than there were before.<\/p>\n

2. A dollar or two are all it costs.<\/p>\n

3. This phenomena is all too common.<\/p>\n

4. He is one of those people who like opera.<\/p>\n

5. It had already began when me and Juan arrived.<\/p>\n

6. The decision is theirs\u2019 to make.<\/p>\n

Pop Quiz Answers<\/h3>\n

1. There are four times as many rocks as<\/em> there were before.<\/p>\n

2. A dollar or two is<\/em> all it costs.<\/p>\n

3. This phenomenon<\/em> is all too common.<\/p>\n

4. He is one of those people who like opera. CORRECT<\/strong><\/p>\n

5. It had already begun<\/em> when Juan and I<\/em> arrived.<\/p>\n

6. The decision is theirs<\/em> to make.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The confusion over used to versus use to is largely due to the casual way we talk to each other. Unless the speaker makes a determined effort to say \u201cused [pause] to,\u201d the d at the end of \u201cused\u201d gets swallowed by the stronger t sound. Usually, when someone says something like \u201cI used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,12,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adjectives-adverbs","category-effective-writing","category-verbs"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4802,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1154\/revisions\/4802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}