Word order with 'used to'

Question

Is there a difference between

I didn't use to do that

and

I used to not to do that

For example,

I don't use to read books when I was a child.

Would both be correct? Is the second even correct grammatically?

The idiom used to, always pronounced /'yustə/, can either be a verb in the past tense, followed by an infinitive, and presupposing that the present tense is false (I used to live on DeKalb Avenue); or preceded by a form of be, it means 'accustomed to; adapted to', as in I'm used to living on DeKalb Avenue now. — John Lawler, Oct 04 '13 at 04:41
"I used to do a lot of drugs. I still do, but I used to, too." - Mitch Hedberg (re presupposition) — hunter2, Oct 04 '13 at 06:20

score 1 · Accepted Answer · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

1

According to Michael Swan's "Practical English Usage", the negative forms of used to are:

formal: used not to

informal: didn't use to, didn't used to

Example:

I didn't use(d) to read books when I was a child. (informal)

I used not to read books when I was a child. (formal)

So, the difference would be mostly that of register.

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

answered Oct 04 '13 at 08:00

I've never heard a native English speaker says I used not to do that or I used not to read books. How would it be pronounced, for starts? /ayustnat/ or /ayuzdnat/? Does Swan cover the pronunciation? If not, it's useless pedantry. – John Lawler Oct 04 '13 at 16:15

score 0 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 04 '13 at 13:42

0

The first example suggests your habit, whereas your second example is not grammatically correct. Instead it should be "I used to not do that".

edited Oct 04 '13 at 13:42

RegDwigнt

answered Oct 04 '13 at 06:13

xyz

2 Answers2