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I heard this over the weekend -

I've been going to evening classes and now, at last, I can touch type. I couldn't use to do that.

I would normally say

'I didn't use to be able to do that', or

'I used not to be able to do that'.

Both of my 'correct' answers seem very wordy. Can it be said better?

Dan
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  • It doesn't seem especially wordy to me (no more so than "I may be able to do that" compared to "I may can do that"). – herisson Jan 18 '16 at 10:36
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    Possible duplicate of "I use to", or "I used to" – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '16 at 12:40
  • @FumbleFingers - Not a duplicate! – Dan Jan 18 '16 at 13:56
  • Depends how you look at it. Two out of three of your examples "incorrectly" use *use* instead of *used, so that's a legitimate issue to be addressed on ELU. Asking for a completely different* way to phrase things is open-ended writing advice. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '16 at 14:16
  • @FumbleFingers - my question sought an idiomatic (rather than an idiosyncratic) way of saying what I heard at the weekend - 'I couldn't use to do that'. When I heard this I instantly knew what was meant but was unable to come up with a short 'correct' version. The answer posted below has answered my question (and was not part of the answer to the 'possible duplicate' question you linked (which was about use/used)). – Dan Jan 18 '16 at 15:24
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    Apart from the fact that no-one apart from the most prescriptive grammarians could argue which is "correct" out of couldn't use* to* and couldn't used* to* (a distinction which can't be made in speech), I think the only reason you class either of those as "idiosyncratic" is because of the semantic clash when conjoining negated ability (was able to) and habit (was accustomed to). That's why that particular form is relatively uncommon. But when we introduce do-support, *used* shifts to meaning just did [but no longer do]. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '16 at 15:47
  • @FumbleFingers - I think we may be at cross-purposes. I was very happy and accepting of the phrase I heard. It was a new usage to me and I found myself struggling to come up with the casual way in which I would say the say thing. michael_timofeev found the answer for me! – Dan Jan 18 '16 at 16:04
  • Well, I don't know why you think I couldn't before is more "informal" than I previously couldn't - the former is about 40 times more common in Google Books, and the only reason I can think of for suggesting the latter is more formal is that it's unusual phrasing (but I think it's just "clunky"). Whatever - I suppose we are at cross-purposes, since I think the "writing advice" aspect is Off Topic, and that the only aspect of the Q that is On Topic is the use/used distinction that should be covered by that earlier question. – FumbleFingers Jan 18 '16 at 17:37
  • @FumbleFingers - 'couldn't use to' does not feature in the 'possible duplicate' link you have suggested. Where do you find your evidence to assert that 'couldn't use to' is "incorrect"? – Dan Jan 18 '16 at 22:56
  • Ngrams usage suggests otherwise - https://books.google.com/ngrams/interactive_chart?content=couldn't+use+to%2C+couldn't+used+to&year_start=1800&year_end=2000&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ccould%20not%20use%20to%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2Ccould%20not%20used%20to%3B%2Cc0" – Dan Jan 18 '16 at 22:57

1 Answers1

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You could say: "I previously couldn't do that."

michael_timofeev
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