They didn't use to be interested in country music. But now they do .
any mistake in this sentence? thank you
any mistake in this sentence? thank you
any mistake in this ?
Guest is right.
This is another example of a HUGE hole in the English Language.
the verb "to use" is very straight forward, and, um, useful, until we come to this tortured construction.
I have often labored to explain this tortured, cancerous gap in English.
Many will say that our language is a mixture, or a merger of two or more languages, but it is at points like this that I point out that it's a COLLISION of languages, and like all collisions, it's messy, and has a lot of got gaps.
BTW, about the two posts above, Guest is right, it's "are."
This is another example of a HUGE hole in the English Language.
the verb "to use" is very straight forward, and, um, useful, until we come to this tortured construction.
I have often labored to explain this tortured, cancerous gap in English.
Many will say that our language is a mixture, or a merger of two or more languages, but it is at points like this that I point out that it's a COLLISION of languages, and like all collisions, it's messy, and has a lot of got gaps.
BTW, about the two posts above, Guest is right, it's "are."
DAMN!
He's half right.
"They didn't use to be interested in country music, but now they ARE."
Or,
"They were not used to be interested in country music, but now they are."
I pick the first way.
But, the whole thing is a mess.
Our language simply doesn't provide simple ways to say things like this, so we must cobble together technically incorrect ways to say what we need to say.
I am VERY glad I learned English as a child, and I am SO IMPRESSED with anybody who learns this disaster of a language as an adult. Yes, I agree with all of the nice things the owners of this site say about English. It's my language. But, just remember, it's not a mixture of languages, it's a collision of languages, therefore it will often not make sense if you think logically.
You just need to accept this.
In other words, if you don't understand something about English because it doesn't make sense, you need to understand that YOU are right -- it doesn't make sense. Just learn what it means.
Have fun.
He's half right.
"They didn't use to be interested in country music, but now they ARE."
Or,
"They were not used to be interested in country music, but now they are."
I pick the first way.
But, the whole thing is a mess.
Our language simply doesn't provide simple ways to say things like this, so we must cobble together technically incorrect ways to say what we need to say.
I am VERY glad I learned English as a child, and I am SO IMPRESSED with anybody who learns this disaster of a language as an adult. Yes, I agree with all of the nice things the owners of this site say about English. It's my language. But, just remember, it's not a mixture of languages, it's a collision of languages, therefore it will often not make sense if you think logically.
You just need to accept this.
In other words, if you don't understand something about English because it doesn't make sense, you need to understand that YOU are right -- it doesn't make sense. Just learn what it means.
Have fun.
Hmm... I would go either for "They didn't use to be interested in country music, but now they ARE."
or for
"They were not used to *being* interested in country music, but now they are."
I think the grammatically correct forms are
used to do (something)
to be used to/at doing (something)
or for
"They were not used to *being* interested in country music, but now they are."
I think the grammatically correct forms are
used to do (something)
to be used to/at doing (something)
I don't agree with Bil the Yank and Guest. I think the sentence given above means that the people mentioned was not interested in country music at all at a time in their life, but now they are interested in it, they enjoy listening to it now, they don't dislike it anymore. So i think the structure used in the sentence is "used to do sth" and its negative form is "did not use to do something"
About "be used to do sth". This structure is used to say that sth is familiar with you 'cause you have done it for a long time, not it's not strange to you and doesn't surprise or annoy you anymore. For example, I live in a big city so I don't feel strange to the roaring noise of the motor vehicles, so I will say "I'm used to the apallingly loud noise in big cities".
The mistake in asyou's sentence is there is a d at the end of the verb 'use', because you use an auxilliary before that.
It must be: "They didn't USE to be interested in country music, but they DO now (not ARE)
About "be used to do sth". This structure is used to say that sth is familiar with you 'cause you have done it for a long time, not it's not strange to you and doesn't surprise or annoy you anymore. For example, I live in a big city so I don't feel strange to the roaring noise of the motor vehicles, so I will say "I'm used to the apallingly loud noise in big cities".
The mistake in asyou's sentence is there is a d at the end of the verb 'use', because you use an auxilliary before that.
It must be: "They didn't USE to be interested in country music, but they DO now (not ARE)
"They didn't USE to be interested in country music, but they DO now"
do=? grammatically, the way you put it, 'do' refers to 'use' (to be interested...). Would you say
"They didn't USE to be interested in country music, but they use to be interested in country music now"? I think that sounds at least weird.
The way Bill the Yank phrased it, "are" implies "interested in country music". "Used to" is a form meant to refer to habits of the past, and switching to present tense doesn't really work.
do=? grammatically, the way you put it, 'do' refers to 'use' (to be interested...). Would you say
"They didn't USE to be interested in country music, but they use to be interested in country music now"? I think that sounds at least weird.
The way Bill the Yank phrased it, "are" implies "interested in country music". "Used to" is a form meant to refer to habits of the past, and switching to present tense doesn't really work.
asyou Wed Dec 07, 2005 9:35 pm GMT
They didn't use to be interested in country music. But now they do .
any mistake in this sentence? thank you
Yes. That should be "now they are." Now they are interested.
Guest Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:26 pm GMT
They didn't useD to be interested in country music, but now they ARE.
See above.
They didn't use to be interested in country music. But now they do .
any mistake in this sentence? thank you
Yes. That should be "now they are." Now they are interested.
Guest Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:26 pm GMT
They didn't useD to be interested in country music, but now they ARE.
See above.
mashapova,
Analatically, I think you are not wrong,
but I'd go for 'they ARE', because in 'they DO', 'DO' reminds me of 'They Do used to now', which doesn't make sense since it is saying about presence and past at once.
Analatically, I think you are not wrong,
but I'd go for 'they ARE', because in 'they DO', 'DO' reminds me of 'They Do used to now', which doesn't make sense since it is saying about presence and past at once.
Mashapova, you are wrong. You obviously don't know English very well.
As for "used" versus "use", it should be "use". "Used to" and "use to" sound the same, so it's a very common mistake.
As for "used" versus "use", it should be "use". "Used to" and "use to" sound the same, so it's a very common mistake.