use to

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English

Etymology

From use (to perform habitually) + to.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /juːs.tu/, /juːs.tə/

Verb

use to (no third-person singular simple present, no present participle, simple past and past participle used to)

  1. (now uncommon outside certain constructions) Infinitive or present tense form of used to: formerly (and habitually or repeatedly) be accustomed to.
    Did I use to wear that?
  2. (nonstandard, proscribed) Synonym of used to
    I use to go every year, until I moved out of the area.
  3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see use,‎ to.
    • 2022 December 2, Isabelle Khurshudyan, Mary Ilyushina, Kostiantyn Khudov, “Russia and Ukraine are fighting the first full-scale drone war”, in Washington Post:
      Drones have become so critical to battlefield success that at times they are used to take out other drones.

Usage notes

  • Use to is now generally only used in the past tense (used to), although use to is still standard with did, as in did I use to do that? or he did not use to do that. In other cases, such as I use to go to the fair every year, it is considered an error (but a common one, influenced by the near- or exact- homophony of the two forms) and should instead exist in the past tense form used to. See usage notes in used to for more.

References

Anagrams