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The normal, completely unremarkable negative (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.

There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

• (a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't make a participle used.
  So that looks wrong.

• (b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use gets a /z/ .
  And that looks wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.

The normal, completely unremarkable negative (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.

There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

• (a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't make a participle used.
  So that looks wrong.

• (b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use gets a /z/ .
  And that looks wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.

The normal, completely unremarkable negative (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.
There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

(a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't produce a participle used.
So that looks wrong.
(b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use is pronounced with a /z/.
And that looks wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.

The normal, completely unremarkable negative (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.

There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

• (a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't make a participle used.
  So that looks wrong.

• (b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use gets a /z/ .
  And that looks wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.

The normal, completely unremarkable past tense (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.
There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

(a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't produce a participle used.
So that's wrong.
(b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use is pronounced with a /z/.
And that's wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.

The normal, completely unremarkable negative (with Do-Support) of the idiom used to in

• I used to like marshmallows.
  /a'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

is pronounced (note the /st/ in both forms -- no /zd/ for used in this idiom)

• /aydɪdṇ'yustuˌlayk'marʃˌmɛloz/

and that's not a problem. In speech.
There isn't even much confusion with the almost identical idiom be used to, meaning 'be accustomed to' -- most English speakers don't even notice that there are two of them.

But the past-tense-with-presupposition idiom used to does pose a problem, in writing. In speech it's treated as an infinitive, as required by Do-Support, no problem. But in writing used doesn't look like an infinitive; in fact, it's a past participle. But the idiom is spelled used to. Hence, there are two choices:

a) I didn't used to like marshmallows.

b) I didn't use to like marshmallows.

Both of these look wrong to experienced English readers, because both of them contain sequences readers have been taught to avoid as products of grammatical mistakes:

(a) contains didn't used, which is wrong -- Do-Support doesn't produce a participle used.
So that looks wrong.
(b) contains use to instead of used to, which is the idiom, so use is pronounced with a /z/.
And that looks wrong, too.

Too bad, so sad, English orthography flunks again.