Sentence structures not acquired yet

Ask specific questions about your target languages. Beginner questions welcome!
User avatar
luke
Brown Belt
Posts: 1243
Joined: Fri Aug 07, 2015 9:09 pm
Languages: English (N). Spanish (intermediate), Esperanto (B1), French (intermediate but rusting)
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... 15&t=16948
x 3631

Re: Sentence structures not acquired yet

Postby luke » Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:23 am

jeff_lindqvist wrote:So, maybe I should have written "was" instead. (But I don't know how useful Dict.cc is nowadays, since I'm not using it.)

I'd go with your original, used to be, as it doesn't necessarily mean, "and is no longer". I think of "used to be" as bringing focus towards the present based on "how the thing was in the past", whereas was is focusing on the importance of that thing in the past, without respect to its significance in the present.

Example:
She used to be a dancer. (I'm not sure if she still is, she may be).
She was a dancer. (back then, no reference to the present).
2 x
: 124 / 124 Cien años de soledad 20x
: 5479 / 5500 5500 pages - Reading
: 51 / 55 FSI Basic Spanish 3x
: 309 / 506 Camino a Macondo


Return to “Practical Questions and Advice”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Khayyam and 2 guests