use to
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From use (“to perform habitually”) + to.
Pronunciation
[edit]Verb
[edit]use to (no third-person singular simple present, no present participle, simple past and past participle used to)
- (now uncommon outside certain constructions) Infinitive or present tense form of used to: formerly (and habitually or repeatedly) be accustomed to.
- Did I use to wear that?
- 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter IX, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 180–181:
- I did not use to think her wanting in self possession, but she had not quite enough for the demands of yesterday.
- (nonstandard, proscribed) Synonym of used to
- I use to go every year, until I moved out of the area.
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see use, to.
- 2022 December 2, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Mary Ilyushina, Kostiantyn Khudov, “Russia and Ukraine are fighting the first full-scale drone war”, in Washington Post[1]:
- Drones have become so critical to battlefield success that at times they are used to take out other drones.
Usage notes
[edit]- Use to is now generally only used in the past tense (used to),[1] although use to is still standard with did,[2] as in did I use to do that? or he did not use to do that. In other cases, such as I use to go to the fair every year, it is considered an error (but a common one, influenced by the near- or exact- homophony of the two forms) and should instead exist in the past tense form used to. See usage notes in used to for more.
References
[edit]- ^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Use to”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC.
- ^ Merriam-Webster: Is it 'used to' or 'use to'