Question
Updated on
20 Sep 2020
- Japanese
-
English (US)
Question about English (US)
Do these sentences sound natural?
①He used not to live alone.
②He usedn't to live alone.
③He usen't to live alone.
④He didn't used to live alone.
⑤He didn't use to live alone.
Do these sentences sound natural?
①He used not to live alone.
②He usedn't to live alone.
③He usen't to live alone.
④He didn't used to live alone.
⑤He didn't use to live alone.
①He used not to live alone.
②He usedn't to live alone.
③He usen't to live alone.
④He didn't used to live alone.
⑤He didn't use to live alone.
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- English (UK)
- English (US)
1 is probably not wrong but sounds weird to have "not to" in that order to me
2 is not common at all, and there is debate as to whether it's even correct or not, so I just wouldn't use it
3 is the same as 2
4 is wrong to a lot of people because it should be "use to", but it's still somewhat common
5 is correct and the best option - because "did" is there and in the past tense, "use to" should be in its infinitive form and doesn't need to show the tense of the sentence
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- English (US)
"Used'nt" and "usen't" isn't a word that I've ever heard used in English before.
One through three I'd correct the sentence to "He use to not live alone." Four and five you can use either sentence, but the more common way of saying it would be "He didn't use to live alone."
The is technically a difference between "used to" and "use to" but it's not one that native speakers are consciously aware of, so you will hear both being used.
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