I used not to play football.

M56   Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:44 am GMT
"I used not to play football."

Is there any real grammatical justification for that form? Personally, I think not
Gwest   Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:57 am GMT
No justification.
furrykef   Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:04 am GMT
It's grammatically valid, but it's also archaic and I don't see anything to recommend it.
Gwest   Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:36 am GMT
<<It's grammatically valid, but it's also archaic and I don't see anything to recommend it. >>

What does "grammatically valid" mean?
furrykef   Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:23 pm GMT
By that, I mean it doesn't violate any rules of grammar.
Guest   Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:36 pm GMT
"I used to not play football" sounds better.
Skippy   Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:06 pm GMT
I used to not play football still sounds weird... This sounds like a lead up sentence like "I never used to play football..."

I'd probably say "I didn't used to play football."
Guest   Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:07 pm GMT
didn't use......skippy
M56   Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:33 pm GMT
<By that, I mean it doesn't violate any rules of grammar. >

Really? What are the grammatical rules for it and are they consistent with English grammar?
Divvy   Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:50 pm GMT
<<It's grammatically valid, but it's also archaic and I don't see anything to recommend it. >>

Would the tag form be...

"I used not to play football, used I?"
Gwest   Sun Aug 05, 2007 5:58 pm GMT
<Would the tag form be...

"I used not to play football, used I?" >

LOL! And how about:

You used to play football, usedn't you?
furrykef   Sun Aug 05, 2007 6:40 pm GMT
<< Really? What are the grammatical rules for it and are they consistent with English grammar? >>

Hmm. After more thought, I have to reconsider my position. I'll just say that I'm not aware of any ruling one way or another, nor do I think there are strong arguments one way or another other than "we just don't say it that way". Of course, when determining whether to use an expression or not, "we just don't say it that way" is usually good enough.

- Kef
Skippy   Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:01 pm GMT
<<didn't use......skippy>>

lol you're right. my bad.
beneficii   Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:20 pm GMT
When using "used to" to mean, "did something in the past often," never ever split the "used" and the "to."

As for spelling it "use to" with "didn't used to," that just doesn't seem right to me. It's just that "used to" is a special construction with special rules that doesn't really match the rest of the language.

Consider "have to," "has to," and "had to." In the first two, the final consonant in the verb is pronounced soft, like an "f" and a soft "s," but in the last one, the final consonant, the "d," is still pronounced hard, like a "d." When I was a kid, I was confused as to the spelling of "have to" and once had to spell, but couldn't remember, so I spelled it as close to what I knew, as "half to." LOL.
Uriel   Sun Aug 05, 2007 7:25 pm GMT
"I used to not play football" sounds perfectly normal, and immediately implies that now you do.