Grammar Appetizer Course: Use To vs. Used To

Bite-sized Grammar: Used To vs. Use To
Don't feel shy about mixing up 'use to' vs. 'used to'. If you listen carefully to native English speakers, you will hear them very often mix up the correct form too! This little grammar bug-a-boo mistake isn't just for non-native speakers, so don't feel bad if you have a tough time keeping these two straight.

However, I'm about to clarify this confusing construction once and for all, so let's master this together, shall we? Cool!

Used To
Meaning: 'Used to' means something you habitually did in the past.

Usage: As a verb

Example: I used to live in Hamburg, Germany.

Notes: Yes, yours truly did indeed live in Hamburg. I lived there to teach Business English to hip professionals. After about a year and a half, I moved back to the States. Currently, I live in Chicago, where I teach English. So am I still in Hamburg? Nope. I need to indicate this by using the past and one way I can do this by using 'used to'.

One simple trick for keeping straight whether to use 'used to' or 'use to' is to remember that verbs which end in '-ed' indicate the simple past, so 'used to' has an 'ed' indicates the past.

Use To
Meaning: 'Use to' indicates accustomed to.

Usage: As an adjective

Example: The first few months I lived in Hamburg, I was not use to such cold, damp, and gray weather.

Notes: Popular formations of this construction include 'to be + use to' and 'to become + use to'.

The Final Dish: Putting It All Together
Can we create a sentence that uses both forms in one sentence? Let's try!

When I used to live in Hamburg, after a few months I gradually became use to the gloomy weather in the fall months.