Crown Academy of English

English lessons and resources




  • Home
  • Online English lessons
  • IELTS online course
  • Articles & lessons
    • Grammar & vocabulary lessons
    • IELTS preparation
    • British culture
    • List of all articles & lessons
  • About
  • Contact
Home > Articles > English lessons > USED + infinitive

USED + infinitive

4th January 2018 by Andrew Leave a Comment

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. correct

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

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

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

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

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

Question form

did + subject + “use” + infinitive form of verb + “?”

did I use to play?
did you use to play?
did  he/she/it   use to play?
did we use to play?
did you use to play?
did they use to play?

We can also form a question starting with a question word as follows:

“What”
“Where”
“Why”    + did + subject + “use” + infinitive form of verb + “?”
“Who”
“How”

Examples:

Why did you use to walk to work?
Where did they use to go at the weekend?
What did you use to eat for breakfast?

Online English lessons and conversation

Use and meaning of used + infinitive

Habits in the past

used + the infinitive to describe a habit or regular action that we had in the past. We do not have this habit or do this action in the present.

Examples:

smoking
Image by stockimages | FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Jane used to smoke.
(She no longer smokes.)

Sarah used to jog every evening after work.
(Now, Sarah prefers to relax every evening.)

States in the past

used + the infinitive to describe a state that we had in the past. We do not have this state in the present.

Examples:

Mark used to like rock music.
(Now he likes classical music.)

Mark used to be a chef.
(Now he is an electrician.)

Mark used to like hamburgers.
(Now he prefers fruit.)

Other lessons

Present perfect verb tense
Past simple tense
How to use DO and MAKE
IELTS exam day from start to finish

 

Video lesson

Online English lessons and conversation

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

English grammar ebook

English grammar ebook

Online English lessons

English lessons with a native English teacher
IELTS online course

Recent articles & lessons

doctor

The difference between practice and practise

4th June 2019

peas on spoon

“a little” and “a few ” to describe quantity

30th May 2019

graduation

Difference between “finally”, “at last”, “lastly” and “in the end”

22nd May 2019

maths symbols

Maths symbols and operations – English vocabulary

8th May 2019

people meeting

BACK as a noun, verb, adjective and adverb

29th April 2019

Online English lessons

English lessons with a native English teacher

IELTS tips

IELTS complete guide

IELTS complete guide (WITH EXAMPLE QUESTIONS)

1st September 2017

Bar Chart

Advice for IELTS writing task 1

19th July 2017

Smiling girl

IELTS speaking advice

18th July 2017

IELTS student Tatjana

How to pass the IELTS with a band 8

9th May 2017

IELTS student Andreea

How to get a band 8 in the IELTS

9th May 2017

Ad





Affiliate disclosure

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Additionally, CrownAcademyEnglish.com participates in other affiliate programs, and we sometimes get a commission from purchases made through our links.

Follow us on social media

Crown Academy of English on YouTube Crown Academy of English on Twitter

Copyright © 2023 · Crown Academy of English · Privacy Policy