USED + infinitive

Look at this sentence:

I used to live in London.

“used” + infinitive describes a habit, action or state in the past that is no longer true in the present. In this example, the above sentence suggests that I no longer live in London in the present.

In this lesson, you will learn the form and also more examples of how to use this structure.

Form

affirmative

subject + “used” + infinitive form of verb
(The infinitive form of a verb is the word “to” + the base form.)

I used to play
you used to play
he / she / it used to play
we used to play
you used to play
they used to play

This structure only has a past form:
I used to play football.

There is no infinitive form of the verb “use” in this structure:
I am going to use to play football.

There is no -ing form of “use” in this structure:
I am using to play football.

There is no present form of “used” in this structure:
I use to play football.

To describe a habit or regular action in the present, we use the present simple:
I play football every day.

Negative form

subject + “did not use” + infinitive form of verb

I did not use to play
you did not use to play
he / she / it did not use to play
we did not use to play
you did not use to play
they did not use to play

Negative contracted form

We use the contracted form in informal spoken English.

did not -> didn’t

I didn’t use to play
you didn’t use to play
he / she / it didn’t use to play
we didn’t use to play
you didn’t use to play
they didn’t use to play