Learn English – different between “used to do ” and “used for doing “

meaningphrase-choice

For example, I can say "used for storing fat", or "used to store fat". What is the difference between the two phrases?

Best Answer

These two sentences:

The lizard's tail is used to store fat.

The lizard's tail is used for storing fat.

mean exactly the same thing. The s in used is pronounced soft, like a z. In IPA, that's /juzd/.

An auxiliary verb

Used to can also work as an auxiliary verb indicating the "imperfective aspect" or "past tense with habitual aspect", like this:

The lizard used to store fat in its tail, before the mad scientist altered its metabolism.

or more realistically:

Mom used to bake cakes all the time, before she gave up eating sugar.

Your jokes used to be funny.

Many people pronounce the s hard (unvoiced) in this sense of used to, resulting in this pronunciation: /just tu/ or even /jus tu/. Used for cannot be used in this sense.

A synonym for accustomed to

Used to also can mean the same as "accustomed to", as in these sentences:

My mom's cakes taste terrible at first, but you'll get used to them.

The lizard is used to living in a cage.

Many people also pronounce this sense of used to /just tu/ or /jus tu/. Used for does not have this sense, either.

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