Dr. Irvin Yalom and Grammar
I recently discovered the life and work of Dr. Irvin D. Yalom , eminent M.D. and fascinating writer. Currently I am reading his The Schopenhauer Cure , a novel, which I I am enjoying and which I venture to recommend. Dr. Yalom is a bit pedantic, which I love, of course (welcome to the club!), and I suspect he dips into all kinds of dictionaries (as we all should) in order to use the right word to discribe his thinking and his chracters' ideas. But... I stumbled into this sentence: "How did she used to do it?" which made me prick up my ears. To use is a regular verb: I use a knife to cut bread with. People used stones but now they use toilet paper . This is fine. Used to , however, means an action repeated in the past, habitual at a given time: I used to to walk but now I don´t . Usually = suelo : Suelo ir al cine, I usually go to the movies. Used to = solía : Solía ir al cine, I used to go to the movies. However the verb is still "to use" and Dr...