-used to-

-used to-
Nota d'uso
1 used to + infinito indica un'azione che avveniva abitualmente in passato o uno stato di cose passato; il tempo corrispondente italiano è l'imperfetto: When I was a child my family used to spend the summer holidays in Brighton, quando ero piccolo la mia famiglia trascorreva (o era solita trascorrere, soleva trascorrere) le vacanze estive a Brighton; She used to be very pretty, una volta era molto carina; There used to be only fields here, un tempo qui c'era solo campagna; We still meet on Saturdays, but not as often as we used to, ci vediamo ancora il sabato, ma non spesso come una volta.
used to possiede diverse forme negative. Le due più comuni sono didn't use to (She didn't use to do the housework, una volta non faceva i lavori di casa) e used not to (I used not to listen to the radio, but now I do, una volta non ascoltavo la radio, ma adesso sì): la prima è più colloquiale, la seconda – propria di un verbo modale – è più formale ed è diffusa soprattutto in GB. Altre alternative sono la forma contratta usedn't to (They usedn't to ask my opinion, di solito non chiedevano la mia opinione) e used to not (They used to not ask my opinion), entrambe piuttosto formali e didn't used to, più colloquiale e da alcuni ritenuta scorretta (They didn't used to ask my opinion).
Analogamente, esistono varie forme interrogative. La più normale è quella con l'ausiliare do e il verbo all'infinito: Did you use to play basketball at college?, giocavi a basket all'università? È possibile anche la forma con do e used, nonostante non tutti la considerino accettabile: Did you used to play basketball at college? Antiquata ed essenzialmente limitata all'inglese britannico è la costruzione modale, che consiste nell'anteporre used al soggetto: Used you to go to church on Sundays?, la domenica andavi a messa?
2 to be used to significa essere abituato (o avvezzo) a; quando è seguito da un verbo, questo ha la forma in -ing: She is [was] used to his vagaries, è [era] abituata alle sue stravaganze; I'm used to working on holidays and weekends, sono abituato a lavorare durante le vacanze e nei fine settimana; I'm not used to it, non ci sono abituato. to get used to + -ing significa abituarsi: I will never get used to eating this stuff, non mi abituerò mai a mangiare questa roba.
Si noti la differenza tra I used to read a lot e I'm used to reading a lot: la prima frase significa che un tempo leggevo molto e ora non lo faccio più, mentre la seconda vuole dire che sono abituato a leggere molto.

English-Italian dictionary. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • used to — W2S1 [ˈju:st tu:] modal v 1.) if something used to happen, it happened regularly or all the time in the past, but does not happen now ▪ He used to go to our school. ▪ We re eating out more often than we used to. did not use to do sth ▪ You didn t …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • used to — used to1 [ just tu ] modal verb *** Used to is usually followed by an infinitive: We used to swim in the river. But sometimes the following infinitive is left out: I don t play golf now, but I used to. Used to only exists as a past tense.… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • Used — may refer to:*Used good, goods of any type that have been used before *Used (Huesca), a village in Huesca, Aragon, Spain *Used, Zaragoza, a town in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain *Used (song), a song by Rocket from the Crypt from their 1995 album Scream …   Wikipedia

  • used — [juːzd] adjective used car/​clothes etc cars, clothes etc that have had one or more previous owners; = pre owned AmE; SECOND HAND * * * used UK US /juːzd/ adjective ► COMMERCE used goods, cars, etc. have belonged to someone else and are not new… …   Financial and business terms

  • used — [ juzd ] adjective *** 1. ) owned by someone else before you: SECOND HAND: a used car salesman 2. ) no longer completely clean because of having been used: a used towel …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • used — (adj.) second hand, 1590s, pp. adjective from USE (Cf. use) (v.). To be used to “accustomed, familiar” is recorded by 1520s. Verbal phrase used to formerly did or was (as in I used to love her) represents a construction attested from c.1300,… …   Etymology dictionary

  • used to — (something/doing something) familiar with something. He s used to beginning without me because I m almost always late. His clothes and manners show he s used to being a celebrity. It s not easy getting used to cold weather if you ve been brought… …   New idioms dictionary

  • used-up — used upˈ adjective Exhausted • • • Main Entry: ↑use * * * used up «YOOZD UHP», adjective. 1. Informal. thoroughly exhausted by physical exertion; tired out. 2. worn out or made useless, as by hard work, age, or dissipation: »[He] is by now a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • used\ to\ be — • used to be • did use to be v. phr. Formerly or once was. Mary used to be small; but she has grown up. Dick used to be the best pitcher on the team last year; now two other pitchers are better than he is …   Словарь американских идиом

  • used to — (do something) to have done something in the past. A young lady who used to work in my office had seven brothers! We used to visit our parents at Christmas every year …   New idioms dictionary

  • used — ► ADJECTIVE 1) having already been used. 2) second hand …   English terms dictionary

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