used to */*/*/

used to */*/*/
I UK [ˈjuːst tuː] / US [ˈjust tu] modal verb
Summary:

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


II UK [ˈjuːst tuː] / US [ˈjust tu] adjective [never before noun]
familiar with something because you have often experienced it before, so it no longer seems difficult or strange
be used to (doing) something:

Deborah was used to working on difficult assignments.

I'm tired – I'm not used to these late nights.

It's completely different from what people are used to.

get used to (doing) something:

I haven't got used to the new system yet.

It took weeks to get used to having someone else around.


English dictionary. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • used to — W2S1 [ˈju:st tu:] modal v 1.) if something used to happen, it happened regularly or all the time in the past, but does not happen now ▪ He used to go to our school. ▪ We re eating out more often than we used to. did not use to do sth ▪ You didn t …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • used to — used to1 [ just tu ] modal verb *** 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.… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Used — may refer to:*Used good, goods of any type that have been used before *Used (Huesca), a village in Huesca, Aragon, Spain *Used, Zaragoza, a town in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain *Used (song), a song by Rocket from the Crypt from their 1995 album Scream …   Wikipedia

  • used — [juːzd] adjective used car/​clothes etc cars, clothes etc that have had one or more previous owners; = pre owned AmE; SECOND HAND * * * used UK US /juːzd/ adjective ► COMMERCE used goods, cars, etc. have belonged to someone else and are not new… …   Financial and business terms

  • used — [ juzd ] adjective *** 1. ) owned by someone else before you: SECOND HAND: a used car salesman 2. ) no longer completely clean because of having been used: a used towel …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • used — (adj.) second hand, 1590s, pp. adjective from USE (Cf. use) (v.). To be used to “accustomed, familiar” is recorded by 1520s. Verbal phrase used to formerly did or was (as in I used to love her) represents a construction attested from c.1300,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • used to — (something/doing something) familiar with something. He s used to beginning without me because I m almost always late. His clothes and manners show he s used to being a celebrity. It s not easy getting used to cold weather if you ve been brought… …   New idioms dictionary

  • used-up — used upˈ adjective Exhausted • • • Main Entry: ↑use * * * used up «YOOZD UHP», adjective. 1. Informal. thoroughly exhausted by physical exertion; tired out. 2. worn out or made useless, as by hard work, age, or dissipation: »[He] is by now a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • used\ to\ be — • used to be • did use to be v. phr. Formerly or once was. Mary used to be small; but she has grown up. Dick used to be the best pitcher on the team last year; now two other pitchers are better than he is …   Словарь американских идиом

  • used to — (do something) to have done something in the past. A young lady who used to work in my office had seven brothers! We used to visit our parents at Christmas every year …   New idioms dictionary

  • used — ► ADJECTIVE 1) having already been used. 2) second hand …   English terms dictionary

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