When is "some" used as plural and when is it used as singular?
I am trying to find out if this question is correct. Did Wang Bo used to be awkward? Should I write "use to be" instead of "used to be," or is "used to be" correct in this sentence?
Here is a question that has been nagging me for a few years: Which is the right usage: "Didn't used to" or "didn't use to?" Examples: We lived on the coast for years but we didn't use to go to the
differences - Didn't used to or didn't use to? - English Language ...
5 For the sense "not used anymore", one could say "It is used no more". ngrams for no longer used,used no more,not used any more,not used anymore,not used any longer [listed in descending order of frequency and shown in first figure below] shows that usage of no longer used has increased substantially in the last 200 years or so.
If "used to" is a set idiomatic phrase (i.e. not a tense), then why would it change its form from "use to" to "used to" for the sentence as it does in the positive?
These make up the vast majority of hits for 'can help doing something' in the Corpus of Contemporary American English. In the sentence given though, help is quite definitely a verb, and used in an affirmative context, so it would be best to have either a plain infinitival or to -infinitival following it.
I have used cocaine. I took cocaine at least once sometime in the past. I was using cocaine. In the past, I was a habitual user of cocaine. EDIT: As the comment says, this can also mean a process in the past, e.g. "I was using cocaine when the accident happened" can mean "I was not looking at the road since I was snorting cocaine." I have been using cocaine. Starting some time in the past, and ...