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Sunday, December 06, 2015

Grammar "used to" "get used to" and "be used to"

Thie explanation on this page is not bad:
http://www.myenglishpages.com/site_php_files/grammar-lesson-used-to.php

although I wouldn't myself have used the word "normal". "To be used to" is more to do with something not being a problem.

Of course you will have noticed that neither "I used to go" nor "I am used to going" can be used to inform you about my present habits as such.

"I used to go swimming every Saturday" (I no longer do so)
"I'm used to going swimming in crowded swimming pools". (This does not pose a problem for me).

from the British National corpus:

ACW 809 By now he was used to spending longer and longer periods alone, yet in that moment when she walked away he always experienced a brief sense of loss that made him want to rush after her and beg her not to go. 

BMW 12 At just over six foot, with thick curling brown hair and eyes that owed their startling blueness to his Irish ancestry, Tom was used to being the object of female appreciation whilst being slightly puzzled by it.


FRF 3844 He was used to being in control of events, not the victim of circumstance; even so, the situation intrigued him.

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