Page 628 - Practical English Usage 3ed - Michael Swan, Oxford
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[be) used to 605
1 went to France seven times last year. (NOT II:tSeti ttl g6 t6 FtYlnee seven times
last yettr.)
word order
Mid-position adverbs (see 24) can go before or after used. The position before used is more common in an informal style.
1always used to be afraid ofdogs. (informal) 1 used always to be afraid ofdogs. (formal)
pronunciation
Note the pronunciation of used /ju:st/ and use fju:s/ in this structure. used + infinitive and be used to .. .ing
Used + infinitive has a quite different meaning from be used to .. .ing (see next section). Compare:
1didn't use to drive a big car. (= Once I didn't drive a big car, but now I do.) (NOT : f;tJ(;fSn't I:tSeti t6 Mille a big ear.)
I wasn't used to driving a big car. (= Driving a big car was a new and difficult experience - I hadn't done it before.)
For the dlfference between used to and would. see 633.8.
[be] used to
meaning
If a person is used to something, it is familiar; he or she has experienced it so much that it is no longer strange or new.
I've lived in Central London for six years now, so I'm used to the noise.
At the beginning 1 couldn't understand Londoners because I wasn't used to
the accent.
structures
Be used to can be followed by -ing forms, but not infinitives (see 298.2). I'm used to driving in London now, but it was hard at the beginning.
(NOT :'m I:tSeti t6 tirille in bmtle" ...J
It was a long time before she was used to working with old people.
Used is an adjective in this structure, and can be modified by quite or very. I'm quite used to her little ways.
get used to .. .ing etc
Get, become and sometimes grow (see 128) can also be used before used to (.. .ing).
You'll soon get used to living in the country.
Little by little, he became used to his new family.
It took them a long time to grow used to getting up in the night.
pronunciation
Note that used is pronounced /ju:st/ in this structure.
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