"I used not to play football."
Is there any real grammatical justification for that form? Personally, I think not
Is there any real grammatical justification for that form? Personally, I think not
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I used not to play football.
"I used not to play football."
Is there any real grammatical justification for that form? Personally, I think not
It's grammatically valid, but it's also archaic and I don't see anything to recommend it.
<<It's grammatically valid, but it's also archaic and I don't see anything to recommend it. >>
What does "grammatically valid" mean?
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."
<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?
<<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?"
<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?
<< 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
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.
"I used to not play football" sounds perfectly normal, and immediately implies that now you do.
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