Grammar-Quizzes › Writing Aids › Commonly Confused Words › Used vs. Be used to
USE | |
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Used (to) expresses that an activity was a past habit; it was occurring at an earlier stage of life but not now. It focuses on the past habit, not duration or frequency. (used + infinitive) It is a lexical verb limited to past tense. |
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LECIAL VERB | INFINITIVE CLAUSE |
We used |
to go camping every spring. |
We used |
to wake up early to go fishing. |
My parents used |
to tell stories before bedtime. |
BE USED TO | |
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Used to expresses something that you are accustomed to; are familiar with and accept as normal. Also, in Amer. Engl get used to (become accustomed gradually). The verbal expression is followed by a gerund. |
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VERBAL EXPRESSION | GERUND CLAUSE |
We are used to |
going camping every spring. |
We got used to |
waking up early to go fishing. |
We were used to |
telling stories before bedtime. |
used (to) – is a verb that is followed by a specified preposition "to". That is, it requires one preposition in particular. See Verbs with specified prepositional complements.
Also see Would vs Used to–express past behavior vs. past habits.
Also see Grammar Notes below.
ERROR |
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*We are used to go camping every spring.
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*We used to go there for six months. |
ERROR |
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We used to go camping every spring. We are used to going camping every spring. (It is a family custom.) |
We used to go there. (a past habit that ended) We went there for six months. |
Pop-Q "Used to"
TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR | LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION |
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(BE) USED TO | (BE) USED TO |
In Azar's Understanding and Using English Grammar, (be) used to is included among verb + preposition combinations, which followed by gerunds. (Azar 14-2 "Using Gerunds as the Objects of Prepositions) be used to doing something. |
In linguistic description, used to is an adjectival passive followed by an infinitival nonfinite clause (a "reduced" clause). used to adjectival passive + PP + NP / nonfinite clause (infinitival) "There are a few adjectives that are morphologically related to the past participles of verbs but whose meaning has changed so that they are no longer comparable to verbal passives with the same form and its connection with passives proper is purely historical." bound, engaged, meant, numbered, related supposed, used (Huddleston 16 §10.1.3) We are engaged to be married. / He was supposed to be… / He was bound to leave… / He was meant to lead… |
USE TO | USE |
Traditional descriptions,call this an expression or phrase: used to / *use to Used to (not *use to) Used to expresses a situation that existed in the pas, but it no longer exists. (Azar 10-7) |
In linguistic description, the verb use has an infinitival nonfinite clause as its complement. It is marginally used as an auxiliary, and mostly used as a lexical verb. "Morphologically, it is highly defective: it has no present tense, no gerund-participle, and no past participle. The plain form is found only in costruction with ausiliary do." (Huddleston 3 2.5.9) verb + nonfinite clause (infinitival) (Swan 604) |
Categories: NP –noun phrase; N – noun; VP – verb phrase; V – verb; Det – determiner; PP – prepositional phrase; P – preposition; AdvP – adverb phrase; Adv – adverb; AdjP– adjective phrase; Adj – adjective; Subord – Subordinator; Coord – Coordinator; Interj – Interjection
Functions: Subject: Subject, Predicate: Predicator (V) Complement: elements required by the verb: object, indirect object, predicative complement Adjuncts: (optional modifiers) Adj, Adv