Where I was before, we never used to have posters on the walls.
Sometimes not is put between used and to. This is a fairly formal use.
It used not to be taxable.
Some grammar books give a contracted form for the negative, usedn’t to or usen’t to. This is now rarely used, and is thought to be very old-fashioned.
questions
5.256 You normally form questions with used to by putting did in front of the subject, followed by used to or use to. Wh-questions are formed by putting the wh-word at the beginning, followed by used to.
Did she used to be nice?
What used to annoy you most about him?
You can form negative questions by putting didn’t in front of the subject, followed by the subject and used to or use to.
Didn’t they use to mind?
In more formal English, did is put in front of the subject and not after it, followed by used to or use to.
Did she not use to smile?
6 Expressing manner and place: other adverbials
Introduction
6.1 When you are talking about an event or a situation, you sometimes want to say something about it that has not been indicated by the subject, verb, object, or complement. You do this by using an adverbial.
An adverbial is a word or group of words that you use when you want to say when an event or situation occurs, how it occurs, how much it occurs, or where it occurs.
I was soon lost.
She laughed quietly.
She was tremendously impressed.
He fumbled in his pocket.
adverb phrases
6.2 The two main types of adverbial are adverb phrases and prepositional phrases.
He acted very clumsily.
I cannot speak too highly of their courage and skill.
He takes his job very seriously indeed.
He did not play well enough throughout the week to deserve to win.
However, adverbs very often occur on their own.
I shook her gently.
He greatly admired Cezanne.
He scarcely knew his aunt
The number will probably be higher than we expected.
For more information about adverbs, see the section beginning at paragraph 6.16.
prepositional phrases
6.3 Adverbials that consist of a preposition and a noun, such as in a box and to the station, are called prepositional phrases. These are dealt with in detail in the section beginning at paragraph 6.73.
Large cushions lay on the floor.
The voice was coming from my apartment.
noun phrases
6.4 Occasionally, noun phrases can also be used as adverbials.
He was looking really ill this time yesterday.
I’m going to handle this my way.
When noun phrases are used as adverbials, they most often relate to time. Time adverbials are dealt with in Chapter 4. Noun phrases that relate to place are dealt with at paragraph 6.72; those that relate to manner are dealt with at paragraph 6.44, and those that relate to degree at paragraph 6.52.
For more information on noun phrases in general, see Chapters 1 and 2.
adding meaning to verb phrases
6.5 The most common way in which adverb phrases give additional information is by adding something to the meaning of a verb phrase.
He nodded and smiled warmly.
The report says that hospitals and rescue services coped extremely well.
I could find that out fairly easily.
Prepositional phrases have a wider range of meanings.
It was estimated that at least 2,000 people were on the two trains.
Kenny Stuart came second, knocking two minutes off his previous best time.
For the first time since I’d been pregnant I felt well.
Many intransitive verbs normally require an adverbial. See paragraph 3.10 for more information about these.
Ashton had behaved abominably.
She turned and rushed out of the room.
Some transitive verbs normally require an adverbial after the object of the verb. For more information about these, see paragraph 3.19.
I put my hand on the door.
adding meaning to clauses
6.6 Adverbials can also add meaning to a whole clause, for example by giving the writer’s or speaker’s comment on it. For more information, see the section on sentence adverbials beginning at paragraph 9.56.
Obviously crime is going to be squeezed in a variety of ways.
Fortunately, the damage had been slight.
Ideally the dairy should have a concrete or tiled floor.
No doubt she loves Gertrude too.
They can also show the way in which one sentence is linked to another clause. For more information, see the section on sentence connectors beginning at paragraph 10.48.
The second paragraph repeats the information given in the first paragraph. Therefore, it isn’t necessary.
Position of adverbials
6.7 The position of adverbials within clauses is flexible, allowing many changes of emphasis and focus.
Adverbials are normally placed at the end of the clause after the verb phrase, or after an object if there is one.
She packed carefully.
They would go on talking for hours.
I enjoyed the course immensely.
beginning of clause for emphasis
6.8 You can emphasize the adverbial by placing it at the beginning of the clause, in front of the subject.
Gently Fiona leaned forward and wiped the old lady’s tears away.
In his excitement Billy had forgotten the letter.
The adverbial is often separated by a comma from the rest of the clause.