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 #2 (permalink) Tue Jan 06, 2009 5:31 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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| The first one is grammatical and the second one is not. "Used to lived" is not a correct verb construction. |
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Jamie (K)
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| #3 (permalink) Tue Jan 06, 2009 7:51 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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Sorry. I have corrected the typo.
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Sitifan
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| #4 (permalink) Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:58 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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| I think they mean about the same thing, but in (1) we feel the finality more, and in (2) we feel the process more. |
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Jamie (K)
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| #5 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 1:28 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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*I used to work very hard last month.
According to Practical English Usage, "used to V" is not used simply to say what happened at a past time, hence the unacceptability of the above sentence.
Why is the following sentence acceptable?
He used to live here in 1944.
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Sitifan
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| #6 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:01 am “lean and chiseled” |
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President Elect Barack Obama has been caught shirtless in Hawaii, causing quite a stir for all the right reasons.
The shot shows Obama with abs, or as one outlet called Obama’s body: “lean and chiseled.”
Obama works out regularly, and it was noted during the campaign that he kept his routine of morning workouts happening on the road. Reports say that this routine hasn’t changed in Hawaii, with Obama working out at the Semper Fit Center on Marine Corps Base at Hawaii’s Kaneohe Bay.
bauergriffinonline.com
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AnryMorano
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| #7 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 2:09 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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| Sitifan wrote: |
*I used to work very hard last month.
According to Practical English Usage, "used to V" is not used simply to say what happened at a past time, hence the unacceptability of the above sentence.
Why is the following sentence acceptable?
He used to live here in 1944. |
There are two semantic reasons why the first sentence is unacceptable.
1. Last month is not long enough ago, or a long enough time, to be described with "used to".
2. "Used to" indicates that the described activity doesn't happen anymore. It's a strange sentence, because the person is saying that last month he worked very hard, but that he has stopped that habit.
The second sentence is acceptable because 1944 was a long time ago, and the person no longer lives here. |
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Jamie (K)
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| #8 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 5:44 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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| Sitifan wrote: |
1. He lived here in 1944.
2. He used to live here in 1944.
What's the difference in meaning between the above sentences? |
Both sentences make it clear that he lived here in 1944. The difference is that the second sentence implies that he now lives somewhere else. |
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Nyc
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| #9 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 10:41 am Used to Verb and the past tense |
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In #1, we don't know whether he is alive or not now. In #2, he is still alive but lives somewhere else. Is that what you mean?
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Sitifan
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| #10 (permalink) Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:22 pm Used to Verb and the past tense |
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| Sitifan wrote: |
| In #1, we don't know whether he is alive or not now. In #2, he is still alive but lives somewhere else. Is that what you mean? |
Well, that too, I guess. |
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Jamie (K)
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| Active voice sentence contain 'to be' structure | Could you please explain the definitions of the underlined “it”? |
