[Grammar] Has anyone told me how to distinguish between these two ?

[lllllll]

I didn't used to
I didn't use to

 

[emsr2d2]

And if you want to avoid the issue, you can use "I used not + bare infinitive".

 

[emsr2d2]

Note that your title should have been "Can anyone tell me ...?" Also, it should have included "didn't use to/didn't used to". The latter would have been an appropriate title on its own, and the question starting "Can anyone tell me ...?" should have appeared in the main body of your post.

 

[teechar]

And if you want to avoid the issue, you can use "I used not + bare infinitive".

I'm pretty certain that emsr2d2 meant to write "full infinitive" instead.

 

[emsr2d2]

I had a feeling someone would say that but I meant what I said. When I was acquiring English, we said "I used not eat fish ..." etc, never "I used not to eat fish ...".

 

[jutfrank]

When I was acquiring English, we said "I used not eat fish ..." etc, never "I used not to eat fish ...".

?!

Where on Earth did you acquire that from?!

 

[jutfrank]

In response to post #8: Here is some context for those quotations. I'm not entirely sure the writers here are the most proficient users of English.

The flour they used have hada very dark colour. The people were very healthy then because they used eat the crusts of the bread as well as the rest of the cake.They had hardly ever any toothaches. They didn't like sweet cakes. They used eat cakes made from bran.

I used to be under extreme stress from work and school between April and May.
In June, for the whole month, I used not eat anything until 1 pm and I often felt pain in my stomach.
I used also drink several cans of coke in empty stomach

Although soya is a popular healthy additive to food today, its believed that long time ago, some people used not eat soybeans as compared to other beans because they knew that soya beans contained harmful substances.

 

[emsr2d2]

?!

Where on Earth did you acquire that from?!

Well, basically from everyone around me who spoke English! Notwithstanding the proficiency or otherwise of the writers, all of the examples in Piscean's post sound natural to me.

I will happily concede that, if I'm in a minority of one on this, learners should discouraged from using it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Fair enough.

"used not + full infinitive" it is then.

 

[jutfrank]

Well, basically from everyone around me who spoke English!

I find this fascinating and utterly mindboggling how I've got to the age I have and never ever even once noticed this usage. I'm especially surprised since I'm fairly sure you didn't grow up speaking a dialect that I'm not familiar with. Was this in the Greater London area in the late 70s and 80s? Are you really saying it was not just your family but also your wider community who used it? I don't mean to sound like I'm doubting you, it's just that I find this bizarre for several reasons.

I would be very interested to know whether Rover, Tdol, teechar and any other BrE-speaking members are aware of it. (Piscean—I assume from your previous post you also are?) I also assume (possibly wrongly) that it is a uniquely British thing, right? Possibly generational as well? And does the lack of to work only in the negative?

I think we can all agree that learners should definitely not be encouraged to use it!

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm pretty sure that my relatively standard Home Counties English isn't an obscure dialect! I don't recall any specific examples of anyone in the wider community using the full infinitive but I can't say for certain that they didn't. Bear in mind that when I refer to my acquiring my own language, I'm talking of course about when I was a toddler so I'm pretty sure I wasn't listening out for people using language I would find odd! Also, it's very likely that "I didn't use to + infinitive" was (and still is) more common.

 

[jutfrank]

I'm pretty sure that my relatively standard Home Counties English isn't an obscure dialect!

Yes, exactly. That's partly why it seems so odd to me.

Would it typically be used in a contracted form, as in usedn't be ...?

Also, it's very likely that "I didn't use to + infinitive" was (and still is) more common.

Yes, it is. There's no doubt.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sorry, I missed the last question. Yes, the lack of "to" only works in the negative. (Of course I wouldn't say "I used eat fish".) Having said that, I don't think I've ever used it in the interrogative but if I had to convert it, I would convert it to "Used you not eat fish?"

 

[GoesStation]

I also assume (possibly wrongly) that it is a uniquely British thing, right?

It sure isn't an American thing.