Genuine grammar question here, and I'm only asking because you didn't point it out--"(Why) did men used to look older?" sounds really weird to me. In the "do + [verb]" construction, tense is indicated by the auxiliary verb.
[O] Yes, I do have rabies. Was it the foaming at the mouth that gave it away? [O] Yes, I did have rabies, but that was a while ago. [X] Yes, I did had rabies--I thunk it give me dain bramage.
So my first instinct is to think that we should instead write: "Did men use to look older?" But that also looks weird--probably because "used to" here is a modal verb phrase used to indicate something in the past that is no longer the case, and it always appears in the past tense. The only exception I know of is the negative form:
[O] I didn't use to regularly smash my head into brick walls, but lately I've found it to be quite a relaxing pastime. [X] I didn't used to speak like a blithering idiot, but then I started smashing my head into brick walls.
Here, the "did" in the negation once again carries the tense. So am I correct to think it should be "Did men use to look older?" and that it just feels weird because I am so... well, used to "used to"? Enquiring minds want to know.
You're absolutely right. With a few exceptions, the negative-preterite construction is didn't + [bare infinitive].
present: I eat (1st-person singular conjugation of "to eat") preterite (simple past, past simple): I ate negative preterite: I didn't eat
Therefore—
preterite (simple past, past simple): I used to negative preterite: I didn't use to (no "d" on "use")
"Use," in this case, is a bare infinitive, not a participle.
Exception: to be
present: I am preterite: I was negative preterite: I wasn't (not "I didn't be")
Stuff like that drives EFL learners crazy. Exceptions suck. All the irregular exceptions in Spanish are driving me crazy right now.
As curmudgeonly as I am about the language I see in the memes and images I slap up on the blog, I often don't bother noting when there's a problem (more because of laziness than lack of awareness), so I guess it's up to hawk-eyed readers to step up when I fail to do so. Good catch.
I suppose if you were to point out every instance of bad grammar on the internet you would have time for little else. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy.
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Genuine grammar question here, and I'm only asking because you didn't point it out--"(Why) did men used to look older?" sounds really weird to me. In the "do + [verb]" construction, tense is indicated by the auxiliary verb.
ReplyDelete[O] Yes, I do have rabies. Was it the foaming at the mouth that gave it away?
[O] Yes, I did have rabies, but that was a while ago.
[X] Yes, I did had rabies--I thunk it give me dain bramage.
So my first instinct is to think that we should instead write: "Did men use to look older?" But that also looks weird--probably because "used to" here is a modal verb phrase used to indicate something in the past that is no longer the case, and it always appears in the past tense. The only exception I know of is the negative form:
[O] I didn't use to regularly smash my head into brick walls, but lately I've found it to be quite a relaxing pastime.
[X] I didn't used to speak like a blithering idiot, but then I started smashing my head into brick walls.
Here, the "did" in the negation once again carries the tense. So am I correct to think it should be "Did men use to look older?" and that it just feels weird because I am so... well, used to "used to"? Enquiring minds want to know.
You're absolutely right. With a few exceptions, the negative-preterite construction is didn't + [bare infinitive].
Deletepresent: I eat (1st-person singular conjugation of "to eat")
preterite (simple past, past simple): I ate
negative preterite: I didn't eat
Therefore—
preterite (simple past, past simple): I used to
negative preterite: I didn't use to (no "d" on "use")
"Use," in this case, is a bare infinitive, not a participle.
Exception: to be
present: I am
preterite: I was
negative preterite: I wasn't (not "I didn't be")
Stuff like that drives EFL learners crazy. Exceptions suck. All the irregular exceptions in Spanish are driving me crazy right now.
As curmudgeonly as I am about the language I see in the memes and images I slap up on the blog, I often don't bother noting when there's a problem (more because of laziness than lack of awareness), so I guess it's up to hawk-eyed readers to step up when I fail to do so. Good catch.
I suppose if you were to point out every instance of bad grammar on the internet you would have time for little else. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't going crazy.
Delete