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I know usen’t isn’t used in everyday English, but how about using it in an exam, an essay, or a formal letter?

Is it right to use usen’t instead of didn’t use to?

David
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PbxMan
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  • Closely related: What's the negation of “I used to be”? Surely not “I didn't used to be”?. –  Dec 12 '16 at 08:38
  • Right according to who? Correct per whom? Do you really wish to let anyone tell you whether your language usage is "right" or "wrong"? You can speak or write any way you want. Yes, there are situations in which you might want to please others so that you make a good impression or get a good grade, but beyond those practical reasons (which are personally negotiable as to importance), what kind of language use is it that defers to the judgements of others? In short, you can use usen't if you want, as in I usen't to do that. – Alan Carmack Dec 12 '16 at 15:27
  • Dame Ngaio, lived in England for long stretches of time, and stayed in Devon several times with friends to absorb the linguistic flavor, for which she had a keen ear. This also can be seen in her 9th novel "Death at the Bar"(1940), which takes place in South Devon. "Death and the Dancing Footman" was her 11th. This information is gleaned from her autobiography "Black Beech and Honeydew"(1966, revised and updated (1981), and her biography "Ngaio Marsh: A Life"(1991), by Margaret Lewis. – TaiwanBill May 05 '19 at 09:48
  • @FumbleFingers More formally "I used not to..." seems acceptable to me, as an alternative to "I didn't used to...". Indeed I would have counted the former more elegant than the latter. "I didn't used to..." always sounds graceless to me. – WS2 Mar 10 '20 at 17:50
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    @WS2: Somewhat bizarrely, I find the contracted form (He usen't* to smoke)* even more "formal, stilted" than full versions with or without do-support (it makes me think of posh/formal speakers "playing" at using informal contractions). But I did find it intriguing when John Lawler asserted that *nobody knows* whether there should be an explicit past tense in He didn't use[d]* to smoke* (any relevant syntactic rules being "inconclusive", and of course nobody could really pronounce or hear any difference). – FumbleFingers Mar 10 '20 at 17:57
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    @FumbleFingers Yes, I know what you mean - perhaps more posh than formal. It seems the sort of thing that belongs with "MRP" (marked RP) pronunciation - where "cloth" is pronounced as if it were spelled "clawth" - sort of Duke of Edinburgh stuff. They probably say "usen't" in polo clubs! – WS2 Mar 10 '20 at 19:40
  • Used 3 times on one page a few pages from end of Howards End by E.M. Forster… I’d never seen it and wondered if it was a thing…either British or archaic, I guess. – S Wagar Jun 05 '22 at 06:48

4 Answers4

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The only use of "usen't" I've ever heard was by W. C. Fields in "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break." He says it to the churlish waitress in the diner scene (at 2:48 of the video clip):

"Usen't you be an old follies girl?"

Sven Yargs
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Bill Flett
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  • "You used to have a pair of Canadian snow-shoes, usen't you? May I borrow them?" from "Death and the Dancing Footman", by Ngaio Marsh (c.1941); Berkley Edition, September 1961 (page 79). N.B. Miss Marsh was a cracking good mystery writer from New Zealand. – Taiwan Bill Apr 26 '19 at 14:25
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I agree that "usen't" is inappropriate in formal writing. However, it is found frequently in literature, though almost exclusively in dialogue (or stream of consciousness monologues). For example:

In classical literature:

  • John Galsworthy, in The Foresyte Sagar: You have changed, you usen't to have that line between your eyes, and your jaw's getting too strong.
  • Oscar Wilde, in The Importance of Being Earnest: LORD DARLINGTON: I am not one of her asmirers. CECIL GRAHAM: I usen't to be, but I am now.
  • George Bernard Shaw in Major Barbara: That is a new accomplishment of Andrew's, by the way. He usen't to drink.
  • A.J. Cronin, in The Citadel: Don't make a joke of it, darling. You usen't to talk that way.

20th century novelists:

  • The Hireling, by L. P. Hartley: He doesn't take taxis much - at least he usen't to.
  • Never Again, by Francis King: It usen't to be like that. We used to see much more of the boys- my husband and I... It was more a family, then.

21st century novelists:

  • The Stories, by Jane Gardam: 'I'm slow too.' 'You usen't to be. I'm sure you could write a big book.
  • Sheila O'Flanagan uses it in dialogue (for example, in My Favourite Goodbye: I usen't to think so. But I do now.) and in stream of consciousness monologue (for example, in If You Were Me: He usen't to be a morning person, but maybe he's changed.)
Lucie Palmer
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    Most of these are in dialogue. So my advice would be not to use it unless it occurs in your dialect, or you are writing dialogue for somebody speaking in a dialect where it occurs. – Peter Shor Jul 25 '21 at 13:50
  • This is actually the first time I've ever heard the term "usen't" - I thought it was a joke. – Steve Jul 25 '21 at 15:56
  • I'm not familiar with all the writers you here cite, but those I know are all from one side of the proverbial pond. My own reading experience also suggests that it is a Britishism, though some of your examples are Irish. – Brian Donovan Jul 25 '21 at 20:03
  • I suppose it sounds fine to me because I'm British. But it's not dialect; it's simply a contraction that is found in dialogue to reflect the immediacy of spoken language, like wouldn't for would not, I'd for I would, would've for would have, etc. – Lucie Palmer Jul 27 '21 at 01:23
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Samuel Beckett also uses "usen't" in Embers:

Henry: I usen't to need anyone, just to myself, stories, there was a great one about an old fellow called Bolton, I never finished it, I never finished any of them, I never finished anything, everything always went on for ever. (Pause.)

Good enough for him, good enough for anyone.

KillingTime
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Geoff
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Note that usen't occurs only in the idiom used to.
It never occurs elsewhere. So we're talking about an idiom here.

  • *Usen't that one!
  • *He usen't a safety razor
  • *I'm not really sure any more which ones she used, and which ones she usen't

Every example of usen't presented here requires a to after it. The to indicates that it's followed by an infinitive.

Also note that the idiom used to is pronounced strangely.
Used is normally pronounced /yuzd/, with a /z/; but the idiom used to
is pronounced /'yustə/, with an /s/ (and normal reduction of the final vowel to schwa).

So the question arises as to how usen't to is sposta be pronounced:

  • /'yuzṇtə/ ~ /'yusṇtə/ ~ /'yuzṇə/ ~ /'yusṇə/

The question arises because this particular contraction is sposta be spoken, right? All the examples are dialog. But nobody talks like that any more, and therefore nobody knows how to pronounce usen't any more. So it's basically dead. And it won't have an afterlife, like ain't, which is healthy and happy in English speaker's mouths. But *usen't to ain't ain't.

John Lawler
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