used to

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modal verb British English pronunciation: used to

/ˈjuːst tuː/

Used to is usually followed by an infinitive: We used to swim in the river. But sometimes the following infinitive is left out: I don’t play golf now, but I used to.

Used to only exists as a past tense.

Questions and negatives are usually formed with ‘did’ + use to (with no ‘d’): Did you use to work here? ♦ We didn’t use to earn much. The spelling ‘did used to’ is sometimes used, but many people think that this is wrong.

In formal English, negatives are often formed with used not to: They used not to allow shops to be open on Sundays. The short forms usen’t to and usedn’t to are sometimes used, but they sound rather formal and old-fashioned.

Related dictionary definitions

used to adjective

Get It Right!

used for saying what was true or what happened regularly in the past, especially when you want to emphasize that this is not true or does not happen now
I used to enjoy gardening, but I don’t have time for it now.
They always used to ring me and say what they were doing.
Where did you use to live before you moved here?
I didn’t use to like him, but now we’re good friends.
Customers didn’t use to want to shop from home.
There used not to be so much violence.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of used to

Get It Right!: used to

Don’t confuse

▪ I am used to doing something

▪ I used to do something

If you are used to doing something, it is familiar to you because you have often done it before. Use the -ing form of the verb in this pattern, not the infinitive:

✗ Looking through the newspapers every day, we are used to read terrifying reports about crimes.

✓ Looking through the newspapers every day, we are used to reading terrifying reports about crimes.

You can also say that you get used to doing something:

Children soon get used to spending much of their free time watching TV.

If you say that you used to do something, you are talking about an activity or habit in the past which has now finished.

I used to play squash reasonably well.

This means that the speaker no longer plays squash well.

This is the British English definition of used to. View American English definition of used to.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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