Definition used to in American English

Used to is usually followed by an infinitive: We used to swim in the river. But sometimes the following infinitive is left out: I don’t play golf now, but I used to.

Used to only exists as a past tense.

Questions and negatives are usually formed with “did” + use to (with no “d”): Did you use to work here?We didn’t use to earn much. The spelling “did used to” is sometimes used, but many people think that this is wrong.

In formal English, negatives are often formed with used not to: They used not to allow stores to be open on Sundays. The short forms usen’t to and usedn’t to are sometimes used, but they sound rather formal and old-fashioned.

Don’t confuse

▪ I am used to doing something

▪ I used to do something

If you are used to doing something, it is familiar to you because you have often done it before. Use the -ing form of the verb in this pattern, not the infinitive:

✗ Looking through the newspapers every day, we are used to read terrifying reports about crimes.

✓ Looking through the newspapers every day, we are used to reading terrifying reports about crimes.

You can also say that you get used to doing something:

Children soon get used to spending much of their free time watching TV.

If you say that you used to do something, you are talking about an activity or habit in the past which has now finished.

I used to play basketball pretty well.

This means that the speaker no longer plays basketball well.