Used to

[riverkid]

Originally Amigo's offering:
When do occurs with this form of use in negative statements and in questions, the situation is reversed, and use to (not used to) is correct: You did not use to play on that team. Didn’t she use to work for your company?

Originally Posted by 2006

I agree with riverkid.

I'd love to take credit but being the unassuming guy I am, I have to admit that I just got that all shmozzled up [how the hell do you spell shmozzle?] when I pointed out Amigo's typo but that was definitely Amigo who said that, 2006.

[riverkid]

Originally Posted by fiona bramble

Hi everybody,
Although I have to confess I agree with 2006 on the awkwardness of "used to live when you were a kid", I wanted to comment on "use to" vs. "used to" ...my memory is nagging me that this is a NAE/BrE divide. Can a BrE speaker comment?
Fiona

Mine was too, Fiona and I took the easy route. My posting, with a whatchmacalit [sp? I'm bagged, had a bloated calf to treat] from M-W pointed to a dropped 'd' when an auxiliary verb is used.

I too think I remember an argument that this is a special single verb form, which has no present tense, and therefore the 'd' is not dropped when an auxiliary verb is used.

I must confess that I don't know which is what or whoever. Time for bykd, as my Pa used to say.

[MrPedantic]

Originally Posted by fiona bramble

Hi everybody,
I wanted to comment on "use to" vs. "used to" ...my memory is nagging me that this is a NAE/BrE divide. Can a BrE speaker comment?

As a BrE, I would also take "didn't used to" as a (very common) mistranscription of "didn't use to"; you can find it on the BBC World Service grammar site, for example:

1. I didn't used to take such a large dress size, but now I do.

"Use to" used to be found in all forms. For interest, if that's the right word, here are some examples from a post elsewhere:

2. But when the impediment of motion is in the constitution of the thing itself, we use not to say it wants the liberty, but the power, to move. (Hobbes)

3. Your silkworm useth to fast every third day. (Webster)

4. I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with the secret affairs of my state. (Walpole)

5. I used not to be able to pass here without thinking of him. (Wharton)

6. I did not use to think her wanting in self-possession. (Austen)

MrP