oxford_guide_to_english_grammar

PAGE 127 101 The verb dare
100 Habits: will, would and used to
1 Will and would
We can use these verbs for habits, actions which are repeated again and again. We
use will for present habits and would for past habits.
Every day Jane will come home from school and ring up the friends she's just been
talking to.
Warm air will rise.
In those days people would make their own entertainment.
The meaning is almost the same as a simple tense: Every day Jane comes home...
But we use will as a kind of prediction. The action is so typical and happens so
regularly that we can predict it will continue.
2 Used to
a
b
Used to expresses a past habit or state.
I used to come here when I was a child.
Before we had television, people used to make their own entertainment.
I used to have a bicycle, but I sold it.
The meaning is similar to would for past habits, but used to is more common in
informal English. I used to come here means that at one period I came here
regularly, but then I stopped.
There is no present-tense form.
NOT -I use to come here now.
Used is normally an ordinary verb. We use the auxiliary did in negatives and
questions.
There didn't use to be/never used to be so much crime.
What kind of books did you use to read as a child?
NOTE
Used as an auxiliary is rather old-fashioned and formal.
There used not to be so much crime. What kind of books used you to read?
c
Compare these sentences.
We used to live in the country. But then we moved to London.
We're used to life/We're used to living in the country now. But at first it was quite
a shock, after London.
In the second example are used to means 'are accustomed to'.
101 The verb dare
Dare can be either a modal verb or an ordinary verb. It means 'not to be afraid to
do something'. We use it in negatives, questions and similar contexts, but not
usually to say that an action really happened.
I daren't look/don't dare (to) look at the bill.
Dare you say/Do you dare (to) say what you're thinking?
The police didn't dare (to) approach the building.
I don't expect many people dare (to) walk along here at night.