# 56 Did you use to walk to school? 🏫 Practice with "use to"

L: Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?

D: Yes, I used to walk to school when I was a kid, Latonya. Did you? 

L: No, I didn’t use to walk to school. I took the school bus.

 Those are interesting verbal expressions “use to” and “used to”. When do we use them?

 The verb “to use” (the infinitive form) and “use” (the base form) means to put something into action to achieve a goal or purpose. For example: “I use my cellphone to find out the weather forecast.” 

 But in the question “Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?” “use to”  means something different. In that question we are asking about an action that you did again and again in the past, but you don’t do now.  In that question the action we are asking about is walk to school.

 And the question follows the pattern for asking past tense questions:  “did” + subject  (you) + base verb  (use to).

 Notice that “use to” is always followed with a base verb of the action we're asking about – “walk” in this question.  

 Here are more examples of questions about actions repeated again and again in the past:

"Did you use to drive to Seattle often?" or… "Did you use to play tennis?" or…"Did you use to drink coffee?" 

 Remember that like all past tense English verbs, “did”  does not change when the subject changes.  "Did she use to walk to school?" "Did they /we/you/ he use to walk to school?" Only the subject changes.

Let’s talk about the answers to those "Did you use to..." questions.

OK! Back to the question: "Did you use to walk to school when you were a kid?"  If I answer with a  “Yes”,   I say “Yes, I used to walk to school when I was a kid.” I added the “d” to “use to” to change it to the regular past tense form. Just like I would say “I washed my windows yesterday.” With “use” I just need to add a “d” because “use” ends in an “e”.

 When we answer with a "No", we say "No, I didn't use to walk to school." For the negative answer we use “did not” or “didn’t” + subject + the base form of the verb.  “didn’t” shows that we are talking about the past so we use the base from of the verb "use to". 

Listen for "used to" and 'use to"  in our conversation about actions or activities that we did again and again (repeatedly) in the past

A: Did you use to study a lot when you were in high school?

B: I didn’t use to study a lot, unfortunately. I used to spend most of my time listening to music and playing my guitar.

A: Well, that’s interesting! I didn’t know that you used to play the guitar. 

B: Yeah! My friends and I used to have a band. We used to practice in my parents’ garage every day after school.

A: You used to practice every day? What did your neighbors think?

B: They weren’t too happy. They used to call us and complain. 

A: What did you use to tell them?

B: Oh, we used to tell them that we would be famous in the future and they were lucky to listen to our great music for free!

A: Wow! You used to have high hopes.

B: I still do! But now I study more and I don’t play the guitar. 

How about you, dear listener? What did you use to do that you don't do now? 

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