is it "use to" or "used to?"

[Syrinx]

I'm drawing a blank on which is correct.

Is it "I use to have some respect for John McCain," or "I used to have some respect for John McCain?"

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

1. "used to"

[Heidi]

2. It's "used to."

:hi:

http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/usedto.html

[Syrinx]

3. thanks! to haruka too!

:hi:

[fishwax]

7. usually, but not always :)

If there is a "did" in the construction, that will satisfy the past tense, and so you use "use to."

Incidentally, the early 90s David Cassidy comeback album "Didn't You Used to Be ..." ignored this little bit of grammatical trivium, which probably explains the poor album sales ... http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000I9OQ/103-8673012-4936646?v=glance&n=5174

[Heidi]

8. I just addressed the OP's example

and left a link. "Didn't You Used to Be" even _sounds_ incorrect. x(

(I love your username, by the way. :hi: )

[fishwax]

10. thanks :)

:hi:

(I'm a total dork for grammar and langauge, so I guess I usually go into more detail than would be strictly necessary :))

[Heidi]

12. I was a journalist for more than 20 years,

and now I just try to understand and be understood. :P

[fishwax]

16. hey, I "used to" be a (would-be) journalist

got a degree in it, but wound up on a different career path out of college. Now, among other things, I teach writing to undergrads, and to understand and be understood makes it a damn fine day indeed ;):toast:

But I do like getting into grammar minutiae just the same--and, oddly enough, a good share of my students have been interested in it as well (or perhaps they just like it 'cos it kills class time :rofl:)

[Heidi]

17. .

I used to have the AP Stylebook memorized. Now, if I have a question of that nature, I can just PM DUer Oeditpus Rex. Or you. ;)

[Syrinx]

9. okay, I get it now

The example helped a lot. :)

[fishwax]

4. In your example it would be "used to," but not always

Generally speaking, you use the past tense (used). However, when you use "used to" with some form of "to do" in a negation or a question, you use "use to."

To wit:

Person A: Did you use to have some respect for John McCain? ("Do" with a question = "use to")
Person B: Yes, I used to have respect for John McCain ("used to," as per usual)
Person C: I did not use to--and nor do I now--have any respect for John McCain. ("Do" with a negation = "use to")

Weird, eh?

[Syrinx]

6. I'll try to understand that when I'm fresh

Thanks for the input. :)

[hfojvt]

11. I used to think that it is probably better to not use the phrase

"used to"

After all, what does it add to - "Did you have some respect for McCain?" "Did" is already past tense, why do you even need 'use to'? Just to be doubly redundant?

Both answers also sound clumsy.
Why not
Person B: "Yes, I once had respect for McCain?"
and
Person C: "No, I never did have respect for McCain, and I still don't."

"Used to" just seems clumsy and wrong to me. I wonder if I used to have an English teacher who didn't like that phrase. Or do I mean whom? I ain't sure.

[fishwax]

14. well, to defend the phrase, it does have a slightly different connotation

"I Used to have respect for John McCain" implies that it was, in the past, regular/continuous/habitual, but that it is counter to current fact. "I once had respect for McCain," on the other hand, confines the condition. I think it implies a much cleaner break than the "used to."

I agree with you that it's especially clumsy in the third example, though ... a better use of "didn't use to" would be "I didn't use to have respect for McCain, but he's growing on me." (Please note: these are not my words, but the words of a hypothetical--and apparently highly unstable--individual :rofl:)

But if you don't like it, I certainly won't try to force it on you. Should be easy enough to avoid :)

[hfojvt]

19. it used to be easy to avoid

but it is becoming habit forming. I used to have control over my own prose. I used to say what I mean and mean what I said, and I used to eat what I saw. Now because 'words mean things' it's like they have become the master. :scared:

[fishwax]

20. egads!

Now because 'words mean things' it's like they have become the master. :scared:

:rofl:

:toast:

[hfojvt]

5. "used to be's don't count any more

they just lie on the floor
'til we sweep them away."

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. You could simplify it

by using "I once had some respect for John McCain."

[Syrinx]

15. sure, but I was interested in the particular phrase I axed about

You whistle beautifully, by the way. :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. Actually, I dunt

I just pucker-synch the smilie dude. :blush: