|  موضوع: (Used to (do  الأحد نوفمبر 29, 2009 10:46 pm | |
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Here's a new topic
about grammar i hope you
that it could satisfy you
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Study this example situation:
Khaled stopped smoking two years ago. He doesn't smoke any more
But he used to smoke.
He used to smoke 40 cigarettes a day.
"He used to smoke" = he smoked regularly sometime in the past,
But he doesn't smoke now. He was a smoker,
But now he isn't.
Past = he used to smoke
Now = he doesn't smoke
"Something used to happen" = something happened regularly in the past
no longer happens:
* I used to play tennis a lot but I don't play very often now.
* Sara used to travel a lot. These days she doesn't go away so often
.
* "Do you go to cinema very often?"
"Not no, but I used to." (= I used to go….)
We also use used to… for something that was true but is not true anymore:
* This building is now a furniture shop. It used to be a cinema.
* I used to think he was unfriendly but now I realise he's a very nice person.
* I've started drinking coffee recently. I never used to like it before.
* Sara used to have very long hair when she was a child.
"I used to do something" is past. There is no present form.
You can't say "I use to do".
To talk about the present, use the present simple (I do).
Compare:
Past: he used to smoke, we used to live, there used to be
Present: he smokes, we live, there is
* We used to live in a small village but now live in Riyadh.
* There used to be four cinemas in town. Now there is only one.
The normal question form is did (you) use to…?:
* Did you use to eat a lot of sweets when you were a child?
The negative form is didn't use to…. (used not to… is also possible)
* I didn't use to like him. (or I used not to like him.)
Compare I used to do and I was doing:
* I used to watch TV a lot. (= I watched TV regularly in the past,
but I no longer do this)
* I was watching TV when the phone rang. (= I was in the middle
of watching TV)
Do not confuse I used to do and I am used to doing.
The structures and meanings are different:
* I used to live alone. (= I lived alone in the past but I no longer live alone)
* I am used to living alone. (= I live alone and I don't find it strange
Or new because I've been living alone for sometime)
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THE END
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Although it's short
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