2
  1. He is used to live here.

vs

  1. He is used to living here.

and

  1. He is used to drive a Mercedes.

vs

  1. He is used to driving a Mercedes.

What is the difference between sentence 1 and 2, and 3 and 4? When should one use the verb in the infinitive and when to use the verb with '-ing'?

Some examples from Google:

  1. He is used to live by himself.

  2. He is used to live in a family.

  3. He is used to drive fast.

  4. He is used to drive complex projects.

I am wondering why '-ing' is not used in the examples above. Are they grammatical mistakes?

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  • Recommended reading: macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/used-to_1 Try to understand the difference between... "He is used to..." and "He used to..." – Maulik V♦ Feb 16 '15 at 5:47
  • @MaulikV - thanks for the comment. I do clearly understand the difference between the two. My confusion is not what's the difference, but only with "is used to live or living" - i think i have come across few examples where 'is used to live or drive" has been used. So I am wondering why sometimes these sentence structures like the ones I provided in my edited question are used. – Leo Feb 16 '15 at 5:59
  • Can you provide links to the googled examples 1-3 (4 is OK). They don't make sense to me as is but perhaps some context would help. – user3169 Feb 16 '15 at 6:20
  • @user3169 - please see this link google.com/… - even such sentence constructions don't make sense to me. But it is hard to believe so many people would make grammatical mistakes. Thanks – Leo Feb 16 '15 at 6:37
  • By locale many seem to be BrE or European sources. I can only speak from AmE point of view. Or poor grammar, I can't say. – user3169 Feb 16 '15 at 6:48
3

2) He is used to living here.
4) He is used to driving a Mercedes.

are OK. "used to" here means "accustomed".

Regarding the used+infinitive verb form, I think you mean something like (in you Edited questions)

3) A sports car is used to drive fast?

is OK, but it does not make logical sense with "He".

4) He is used to drive complex projects.

means something like it was his job, and is OK as written.

1) He is used to live by himself.
2) He is used to live in a family.

don't make sense though.

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2
  1. He is used to living here.

and

  1. He is used to driving a Mercedes.

is correct.
Both of these sentences mean that he is accustomed to performing a certain task.

  1. He is used to live here.

and

  1. He is used to drive a Mercedes.

are grammatically incorrect.
I'm guessing they meant:

  1. He used to live here.

and

  1. He used to drive a Mercedes.

Those two sentences would mean that he no longer performs a certain task.

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  • could you please go through the edited question and edit your answer accordingly ? Thanks – Leo Feb 16 '15 at 5:47

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