English Grammar : Auxiliary Verb 'Used to'
 
AUXILIARY VERB ' USED TO'

Use of Auxiliary Verb 'Used to' in English Grammar

Uses of Auxiliary Verb "USED TO"

'Used to' is a ‘marginal’ modal verb used to describe an activity or a state that happened many times in the past. It also used to refer to an activity or state that was true in the past but is no longer true.

'Used to' express states / habit / routine / change of the past.

'Used to' expresses the idea that something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It indicates that something was often repeated in the past, but it is not usually done now.

Examples:
  • • I used to sing in my school Days. - habit
  • • There use to be a direct flight at 10.00 pm to London. - routine
  • • There used to be a market on this spot but now it is school. - change
Uses of - 'Used to'
Examples:
  • • Soniya used to study English.
  • • We used to swim in the river.
  • • I used to live in New Zealand.
  • • I used to sing in my school Days.
  • • I used to start work at 10 o'clock.
  • • I used to go to the beach every day.
  • • I don’t play golf now, but I used to.
  • • Ram and Maya used to go to Goa in the summer.
  • • I used to like her much when we were at school.
  • • I used to like rock climbing when I was younger.
  • • Raj always used to go for a run before breakfast.
  • • Monika used to eat meat, but now she is a vegetarian.
  • • There use to be a direct flight at 10.00 pm to London.
  • • They always used to ring me and say what they were doing.
  • • We used to take long vacation trips with the whole family.
  • • There used to be a market on this spot but now it is school.
  • • I used to enjoy gardening, but I don’t have time for it now.
Types of Auxiliary Verbs
(1) Auxiliary–cum–verbs.

"Auxiliary-cum-verbs" are :

These 11 auxiliaries are also used as verbs, therefore, they are called Auxiliary–cum–verbs. These are used to form Tenses. ( Please refer Tense Table).

(2) Pure Auxiliary verbs..

These 20 auxiliaries only support normal verbs, therefore, they are called Pure Auxiliary Verbs. They are also called Models or Model Auxiliary Verbs.

Related Topics :
Types of Noun in English Language
Types of Pronoun in English Language
Types of Verb in English Language
Types of Adverb in English Language
Types of Adjective in English Language
Kinds of Preposition in English Language
Types of Conjunction in English Language
Uses of Interjection words in English Language

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