How do native English speakers say "used to"?

Native speakers reduce "used to" to "yoosta" (/ˈjuːstə/) in natural speech. Something that was a habit, state, or fact in the past but is no longer true.

used to → yoosta | Assimilation

Q: What is the connected speech form of "used to"?

"used to" becomes "yoosta" — a assimilation pattern. The 'd' sound at the end of 'used' is often dropped, and the 's' sound often becomes voiceless /s/ before the 't' in 'to'. This makes it sound like one word, 'yoosta'.

used to → yoosta /ˈjuːstə/ Assimilation

Something that was a habit, state, or fact in the past but is no longer true.

The 'd' sound at the end of 'used' is often dropped, and the 's' sound often becomes voiceless /s/ before the 't' in 'to'. This makes it sound like one word, 'yoosta'.

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Step 2 · Reveal

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STANDARD FORM → REDUCED FORM

used to → yoosta

/ˈjuːstə/

Something that was a habit, state, or fact in the past but is no longer true.

The 'd' sound at the end of 'used' is often dropped, and the 's' sound often becomes voiceless /s/ before the 't' in 'to'. This makes it sound like one word, 'yoosta'.

Step 3 · Context

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Example 1

I used to live in London when I was a child.

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Example 2

She used to visit her grandparents every summer.

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Example 3

There used to be a big tree right here.

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Example 4

I yoosta work with him, he's a good guy.

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Example 5

Did you yoosta play basketball in high school?

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Step 6 · Result

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used to → yoosta