In the last blogpost, we talked about ‘used to’ as a semi-modal. If we say we used to do something, it means we had a habit of doing something in the past, but we no longer do so nowadays. Look at the following example:
Sam used to drink Coca Cola every day in middle school.
In the example above, Sam had a habit of drinking Coca Cola every day when he was in middle school. However, he no longer does that nowadays.
We call ‘used to’ a modal because it is a word group which tells others the way / the mode in which something is done. However, it functions similarly to a main verb. For example, to form negatives, we say ‘did not use to’ rather than ‘usedn’t to’; to form a question, we say ‘did he use to…’. This sets ‘used to’ apart from other modals like can / could, hence the term ‘semi-modal’.
There is, however, a form which looks pretty alike but has a completely different meaning. Look at the following example:
Sam is used to drinking Coca Cola every day in school.
In the example above, Sam has the habit of drinking Coca Cola every day. In other words, it’s already become part of his life and there’s nothing surprising about it. Look at the next example:
Sam is not used to the weather in the UK.
In the example above, Sam has not experienced what the weather is like in the UK, so he may feel surprised about it.
The word ‘used’ here is an adjective, or a Describer of the Subject; ‘to’ is a preposition following the adjective. Therefore, the verb after ‘to’ takes an -ing form.
The verb-to-be can vary in tenses, depending on what period of time the person is referring to.
Apart from, ‘be used to’, we sometimes use ‘get used to’. Their meaning is similar. However, ‘get used to’ tends to emphasise a progression from being unfamiliar to being familiar. Look at the following example:
Sam will get used to the weather in the UK in the future.
In the example above, we try to emphasise a change from not being familiar with the weather to being familiar with the weather as time goes by.
Similarly, the verb ‘get’ varies in tenses, depending on what period of time the person is referring to.
To conclude, ‘used to’ is a semi-modal talking about a past habit we no longer do nowadays. It does not vary in tenses.
‘Be used to’ is an adjective describing something unsurprising as we do all the time. It is followed by either noun groups or -ing verbs. It varies in tenses.
‘Get used to’ is similar to ‘Be used to’ but it emphasises a change from being unfamiliar to being familiar with something.
