Use/used to

Question

She use/used to get up early in the morning.Please tell me which one is correct use or used.I think there is something missing in the sentence. So can't guess.

Cool Breeze · Accepted Answer

She use is ungrammatical. Besides, this expression is only used in the past tense: She used to get up early [in the morning].

CB

BillJ · Answer

She use/used to get up early in the morning.

You'll see both, but strictly speaking only "used" is correct.

The uncertainty about which form to use probably arises from the fact that “used to” is pronounced with a single /t/ and hence is homophonous with the “use to” found in He didn’t use to smoke, where "use" is the plain (infinitival) form of the verb.

The aspectual verb “use” is a highly defective verb: it has no present tense or participles, only infinitival and past forms, so although the form “use” appears to be a present tense form, it is in fact the plain (infinitive) form which is only used in negatives and with inversion: He didn’t use to smoke ~Did he use to smoke?

Use/used to

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