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FumbleFingers
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The short answer to OP's question is that use, used, and will use are all syntactically fine and in practice all mean "the same" in the specified context.

Which tense to use is primarily a stylistic choice (there are "logical" justifications for all three), but I can confidently assert that will use is unlikely (unless for some reason the speaker wishes to explicitly force and emphasize the "temporal focus" into the future).

BUT it's important to note that in the most natural (spoken, not written) context, it's effectively impossible for the audience to know whether the speaker said use to or used to (see the earlier ELL question "Didn't use to get" or "Didn't used to get"?, where the short answer is "Nobody knows!").

I originally said in comments that I thought use would probably be the most common choice, but I now think that's just because I was listening to my own "inner voice" reading out the text. And because I can't "hear" the d, I assume it's not present (even when I'm actually reading from text where I can see it! :)

I now think that OP's cited writer made the most likely choice anyway. But it would be of no consequence if he'd used Present Tense use, and even will use wouldn't actually be "incorrect" - just "slightly unusual".


It may be helpful to consider a similar context that isn't affected by the use to / used to audible ambiguity...

Please get me a pint of milk from the local shop and tell me how much you paid for it

...where again, all three tenses are "syntactically valid". But almost everyone would almost always use the Past Tense version as given.

The short answer to OP's question is that use, used, and will use are all syntactically fine and in practice all mean "the same" in the specified context.

Which tense to use is primarily a stylistic choice (there are "logical" justifications for all three), but I can confidently assert that will use is unlikely (unless for some reason the speaker wishes to explicitly force and emphasize the "temporal focus" into the future).

BUT it's important to note that in the most natural (spoken, not written) context, it's effectively impossible for the audience to know whether the speaker said use to or used to (see the earlier ELL question "Didn't use to get" or "Didn't used to get"?, where the short answer is "Nobody knows!").

I originally said in comments that I thought use would probably be the most common choice, but I now think that's just because I was listening to my own "inner voice" reading out the text. And because I can't "hear" the d, I assume it's not present (even when I'm actually reading from text where I can see it! :)

I now think that OP's cited writer made the most likely choice anyway. But it would be of no consequence if he'd used Present Tense use, and even will use wouldn't actually be "incorrect" - just "slightly unusual".

The short answer to OP's question is that use, used, and will use are all syntactically fine and in practice all mean "the same" in the specified context.

Which tense to use is primarily a stylistic choice (there are "logical" justifications for all three), but I can confidently assert that will use is unlikely (unless for some reason the speaker wishes to explicitly force and emphasize the "temporal focus" into the future).

BUT it's important to note that in the most natural (spoken, not written) context, it's effectively impossible for the audience to know whether the speaker said use to or used to (see the earlier ELL question "Didn't use to get" or "Didn't used to get"?, where the short answer is "Nobody knows!").

I originally said in comments that I thought use would probably be the most common choice, but I now think that's just because I was listening to my own "inner voice" reading out the text. And because I can't "hear" the d, I assume it's not present (even when I'm actually reading from text where I can see it! :)

I now think that OP's cited writer made the most likely choice anyway. But it would be of no consequence if he'd used Present Tense use, and even will use wouldn't actually be "incorrect" - just "slightly unusual".


It may be helpful to consider a similar context that isn't affected by the use to / used to audible ambiguity...

Please get me a pint of milk from the local shop and tell me how much you paid for it

...where again, all three tenses are "syntactically valid". But almost everyone would almost always use the Past Tense version as given.

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FumbleFingers
  • 74.6k
  • 4
  • 102
  • 204

The short answer to OP's question is that use, used, and will use are all syntactically fine and in practice all mean "the same" in the specified context.

Which tense to use is primarily a stylistic choice (there are "logical" justifications for all three), but I can confidently assert that will use is unlikely (unless for some reason the speaker wishes to explicitly force and emphasize the "temporal focus" into the future).

BUT it's important to note that in the most natural (spoken, not written) context, it's effectively impossible for the audience to know whether the speaker said use to or used to (see the earlier ELL question "Didn't use to get" or "Didn't used to get"?, where the short answer is "Nobody knows!").

I originally said in comments that I thought use would probably be the most common choice, but I now think that's just because I was listening to my own "inner voice" reading out the text. And because I can't "hear" the d, I assume it's not present (even when I'm actually reading from text where I can see it! :)

I now think that OP's cited writer made the most likely choice anyway. But it would be of no consequence if he'd used Present Tense use, and even will use wouldn't actually be "incorrect" - just "slightly unusual".