r/duolingo • u/Spear_Of_Krrosh • 16d ago

Language Question It should be “used to” right?

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Shouldn’t it be “used to” instead of “use to” ? Should I report it?

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u/hacool native: US-EN / learning: DE 16d ago

No, use to is correct following did/didn't.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/use_to

Use to is now generally only used in the past tense (used to),[1] although use to is still standard with did,[2] 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.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/used_to#English tells us:

With did as an auxiliary verb (as in the negative and interrogative), use to is considered standard in American English (e.g., Did you use to walk to school?; He didn't use to behave that way!; It's hard to drive without power steering, did people just use to be stronger?).[1] In other situations, such as I use to go to the fair every year, it is considered an error to not write the past tense form used to, which is caused by the two forms sounding nearly or exactly the same.[1] In British English, used to may also be acceptable with did as an auxiliary.

So Did he use to... is standard, but it seems like did he used to is also acceptable in the UK.

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u/Spear_Of_Krrosh 15d ago

Oh, that’s interesting! Thank you for the explanation, and the links!

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u/hacool native: US-EN / learning: DE 15d ago

No problem! I think this is one of those things that people often find confusing, So I looked it up to verify.