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ESL forum > Message board > didn īt used to???    

didn īt used to???



Eli!
Uruguay

didn īt used to???
 
Hey my great teachers here!!

dear collegues I īve a dobut related with the usage of USE TO structure. They are:

1, He didn īt used to come here very often. 
2, He didn īt use to come here very often.

Is there any different between the both? Why after used to is used after auxi didn īt?

Thanks beforehand!!!

1 Apr 2010      





marsala
Brazil

The fisrt sentence is INCORRECT.
You must considerate the didnīt as a negative form for the verb (sentence). So it goes without the ED form.

1 Apr 2010     



intra
Poland

Accoridng to M. Vince (in "Advanced Language Practice" 1998), "the negative form is either: I didn īt use to or I used not to (rare of some speakers). The form I didn īt used to may also be found. This is usually considered incorrect, unless we consider used to as an unchanging semi-modal form."

1 Apr 2010     



GIOVANNI
Canada

For questions and negative forms, two forms of the verb are used � either the normal infinitive pattern after did (more common), or the past form used (less common):

* I didn㦙 use to run fast, but now I do.

* I didn㦙 used to run fast, but now I do.

1 Apr 2010     



teacher jessie
Argentina

I īm sorry Giovanni, I think that is incorrect. Only the 1st option is right. The 2nd may be used but that doesn īt mean it is grammatically ok.

1 Apr 2010     



ameliarator
United States

I agree with the previous comments that "didn īt use to" is correct and "didn īt used to" is incorrect, but many native speakers are not aware of this (personally I didn īt know it was "didn īt use" and not "didn īt used" until I started teaching English) so you may hear both.

1 Apr 2010     



lango
Thailand

Im pretty sure that positive statements use īused to � and negative use īuse to � ... no?
 
 

1 Apr 2010     



tommyng
Albania

I think there is no difference between "didn īt used to and didn īt use to" but now we use "didn īt use to" more commonly than "didn īt used to".

1 Apr 2010     



douglas
United States

"Borrowed" from the internet:   
(sorry can īt seem to get link to work)
 
Michael Swan, Practical English Usage
"used not to": formal style.
"didn㦙 use to" and "didn īt used to": informal style.

The Collins COBUILD English Dictionary
If something used not to be done or used not to be the case, it was not done in the past or was not the case in the past. The forms "did not use to" and "did not used to" are also found, especially in spoken English.

Quirk et al., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language
"He usen㦙 to smoke" and "He used not to smoke" as preferred by many in British English," and "He didn㦙 use to smoke" and "He didn㦙 used to smoke" used by both British English and American English speakers.

L. B. Alexander, Longman English Grammar
"used to" may be formed without the auxiliary "do" as in "You used not to smoke." But he adds that didn㦙 is more commonly used to form negatives with "used to". Alexander also states that "We can avoid the problem of the negative by using 𤉋ever�.� 𦴧red never used to be so difficult.� "

Either the "formal" or "British" "used not to" is fine, as is the "informal" or "American" "didn㦙 use to" (or "didn㦙 used to").

It īs also correct according to BBC Learning Service.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/le...rnitv285.shtml

1 Apr 2010