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Sentence #28339

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Comments

eirik174 eirik174 December 30, 2013 December 30, 2013 at 4:02:06 AM UTC link Permalink

Which is it - "didn't used to" or "didn't use to"?

CK, or other native speakers, do you consider this correct English? To me, this kind of writing is similar to the recent "should of" replacing "should have" - i.e. horribly wrong.

But then you look at real-world examples that are certainly not written by illiterate people, such as this title:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0810829/

Vortarulo Vortarulo March 15, 2015 March 15, 2015 at 10:16:12 PM UTC link Permalink

For the ones who are as confused as I just was about the correctness of this phrase, see here:
http://tatoeba.org/deu/sentences/show/28339


# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# This comment was copied from #2949339 when duplicate sentences were merged.
# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AlanF_US AlanF_US July 9, 2019 July 9, 2019 at 12:59:25 PM UTC link Permalink

See discussion here: #8035253.

Summary:

Best:
"I never used to smoke."

Also correct:
"I didn't use to smoke."

Controversial (and in my view and that of the New Oxford American Dictionary, wrong):
"I didn't used to smoke."

If this sentence is going to be on List 907, which CK repeatedly presents as a set of proofread and trustworthy sentences, I think the "never used to" variant should be used.

Horus Horus July 11, 2019 July 11, 2019 at 1:00:05 AM UTC link Permalink

Duplicates of this sentence have been deleted:
x #2949339

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License: CC BY 2.0 FR

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by {{audio.author}} Unknown author

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We cannot determine yet whether this sentence was initially derived from translation or not.

linked by an unknown member, date unknown

I didn't use to smoke.

added by an unknown member, date unknown

I didn't used to smoke.

edited by CK, November 4, 2010

linked by duran, December 1, 2011

linked by deniko, August 20, 2012

linked by Objectivesea, June 18, 2013

I didn't use to smoke.

edited by CK, December 30, 2013

linked by alexmarcelo, December 30, 2013

I didn't used to smoke.

edited by CK, December 30, 2013

linked by jeedrek, January 18, 2014

linked by jeedrek, January 18, 2014

linked by nueby, October 31, 2018

#2949339

linked by CK, November 19, 2018

linked by deniko, July 9, 2019

linked by deniko, July 9, 2019

I didn't use to smoke.

edited by CK, July 11, 2019

linked by Horus, July 11, 2019

linked by Horus, July 11, 2019

linked by TheNightAvl, September 2, 2019

linked by danepo, May 18, 2020

linked by Guybrush88, 22 days ago