Used to- auxiliary verbs.
- Thread starter kimmy3169
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====Not a teacher====
NO, I have never heard about that before! :?:
Suggestion: Not to use it. :up:
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I believe that in very old English, you would have been able to say:
You used to eat a lot of fish, usedn't you?
"Usedn't" would be a contraction of "used not you?" but we don't say it like that any more. We now say "You used to eat a lot of fish, didn't you?"
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Note the spelling. It's not "usen't", it's "usedn't" because it's a contraction of "useD you not".
I would say that the sentence is OK, but as I said, it sounds very old fashioned. My grandfather, who is 90 years old, might still use this construction but I don't know anyone younger who would say it.
You used to go to school with him, didn't you?
Didn't you used to go to school with him?
bertietheblue
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The form of the verb required is the infinitive so 'Didn't you use to ...?' is correct.
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REALLY?! Oh my word! I've had this wrong my entire life, and so did my English teacher in that case! I vaguely remember her going in to a long and detailed explanation about the fact that "used to" isn't related to the verb "use" but is a standalone phrase that always involves the word "used".
I stand corrected and take back all I said!
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I get corrected on this one all the time.
"I didn't use to" SOUNDS exactly like "I didn't used to" as does "Did you use to" sounds like "Did you used to." Since we say "I used to" in the positive it feels logical.
(Back to a prior post with how things sound being easier for me than how they look...)
I need to keep reminding myself it's like "Did you ran" instead of "Did you run" when I want to type "used."
"I didn't use to" SOUNDS exactly like "I didn't used to" as does "Did you use to" sounds like "Did you used to." Since we say "I used to" in the positive it feels logical.
(Back to a prior post with how things sound being easier for me than how they look...)
I need to keep reminding myself it's like "Did you ran" instead of "Did you run" when I want to type "used."
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