"Used to could"

[Recursion]

Can I get some Lounge backup that this is a perfectly sensible phrase?

[KMOD]

1. Yes, here ya go.

[youtube]

[/youtube]

[Callmecrazy]

2. I used to could...

but I can't no more.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

16. I used to could turn cartwheels but, I can't no more. yep.

[Sanity Claws]

3. Sorry, can't

I used to be able to fly but can't anymore. That kryptonite did a real job on me.

The construction is used + infinitive. Used to fly, used to run, used to be ...
Could is not an infinitive.

[Recursion]

5. Actually, "could", "would", and "should" technically are infinitives

along with "can", because they don't conjugate.

[Sanity Claws]

7. I believe you are mistaken

Could is the conditional form of can. It is not a distinct verb but a form of can.

I don't understand what you are talking about when you claim that would, should, and could are technically infinitives because they don't conjugate. I've never heard such a thing. Those three words are forms of will, shall, and can, respectively.

[Recursion]

8. An infinitive is a non-conjugable form of a verb. Hence "infinitive".

It's not finitely limited by person, number, or aspect (though it is by mood and tense).

Could is the conditional form of can

It was, 400 years ago. It's a non-conjugable ("infinitive&quot verb now

[Sanity Claws]

9. Now? As of when you wrote your post?

[cwydro]

10. No. nt

[Art_from_Ark]

15. If you cannot put "to" in front of a verb, then it is not an infinitive

Try saying "to should", "to would" or "to could", and you'll realize that they are not infinitives. They are actually modal helping verbs.

https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-classification-helping.htm

[mackerel]

13. Are you sure you don't mean auxillary verbs? Infinitive verbs are usually verbs

in the non-conjugated form e.g. to run, to walk, etc.

[BainsBane]

17. No, they are the conditional tense

not infinitives. Translate that into French or some other Romance language and then try to claim they are infinitives. They are not.

[Ptah]

4. I used to could look good naked.

[LiberalEsto]

6. In what language? nt

[Still Blue in PDX]

11. Doubtful. nt

[orleans]

12. makes no sense to me.

i doubt an editor would print it

and a professor would not find it acceptable in a paper that was turned in

[KMOD]

14. It's a common phrase in the south

but it is not proper English.

So as far as sensibility? It will make absolute sense to southerners. For everyone else it's a double modal that makes not sense. Up north, we use, Used to be able.