Craig, I've never thought of  "used to" as a modal auxiliary.  But it does
have the features of must, shall, etc.

I'm unfamiliar with the term "complex transitive."  I'll have to look that
up.

Thank you so much,

Christine 



-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 8:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: your opinions?

Chrisine,

     Here's a quick answer before>I head off to teach./  "Used to" I would
classify as a modal auxiliary, somewhat similar to "would", but
implying that the pattern is no longer operative.  It's an auxiliary
in that it can't be a main verb. (Here, it goes with "love.")  It is
invariant (no tense shift or subject verb agreement.) "Cry" is an
infinitive complement of "made".  Traditional grammar, I think, calls
it an object complement.  I cry because movies make me cry.  It's
parallel in some ways to "The vote made me President." I would call
"made" complex transitive.
     I hope that helps.

Craig


I used to love watching movies that made me cry.
>
>
>
> I see two subject-verb pairs in the above sentence: I used and that made.
>
>
>
> But what about "cry"?
>
>
>
> And would someone comment on the verb "used" as in "used to."
>
>
>
> Is it an idiom?  It doesn't actually mean to use something.
>
>
>
> Please-your thoughts and comments.
>
>
>
> Christine Gray
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
> at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or
> leave
> the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
> at:
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/