Used to do

We use used to do to talk about the past. It is not a tense but it is like a tense. It is a special expression. We use the expression used to do for the past only.

Structure of Used to do

The structure is:

Use of Used to do

We use the used to do expression to talk about:

• an activity that we did regularly in the past (like a habit)
• a situation that was true in the past

Look at these examples.

Be used to

Be used to something
Be used to doing

Be used to is an expression. It is not a tense. If I say "I am used to Thailand", it is like saying "I am accustomed to Thailand."

Structure of Be used to

The structure is:

subject + be + used to + object

If the object invoves a verb, we use the -ing form:

Use of Be used to

The be used to expression is for talking about something that is familiar to us or easy for us. For example:

• I am used to driving on the left.

Itmeans that it is not a problem for me to drive on the left of the road.I am Japanese. In Japan, people drive on the left. Now I am living inthe USA where people drive on the right. Of course, I drive on theright in the USA, but when I go to Japan it is easy for me to drive onthe left because "I am used to it".

Look at these examples.

• I am used to hard work.
• I am used to working hard.
• He is not used to New York.
• He isn't used to living in New York.
• Are you used to fast food?
• Are you used to eating quickly?

Tenses

We can use be used to in any tense. We just conjugate the verb be in the tense that we need. Look at these examples:

• When we lived in Bangkok, we were used to hot weather.
• I have been used to snakes for a long time.
• You will soon be used to living alone.

Gradable and Non-gradable Adjectives

Adjectives describe qualities (characteristics) of nouns.

• Some qualities can vary in intensity or grade (for example: rather hot, hot, very hot; hot, hotter, the hottest).
  
  The adjective hot is gradable.
  
  
• Other qualities cannot vary in intensity or grade because they are:
  1. extremes (for example: freezing)
  2. absolutes (for example: dead)
  3. classifying (for example: nuclear)

The adjectives freezing, dead and nuclear are non-gradable.

Gradable Adjectives

A gradable adjective can be used with "grading adverbs" that vary the adjective's grade or intensity. Look at these examples:

A gradable adjective can also have comparative and superlative forms:

• big, bigger, the biggest
• hot, hotter, the hottest
• important, more important, the most important

Look at these example sentences:

• My teacher was very happy with my homework.
• That website is reasonably popular. But this one is more popular.
• He said that Holland was a little cold and Denmark was rather cold. But Sweden was the coldest.

Non-gradable Adjectives

A non-gradable adjective cannot be used with grading adverbs:

• It was rather freezing outside.
• The dog was very dead.
• He is investing in slightly nuclear energy.

Non-gradable adjectives do not normally have comparative and superlative forms:

• freezing, more freezing, the most freezing
• dead, deader, the deadest
• nuclear, more nuclear, the most nuclear

Often, non-gradable adjectives are used alone:

• It was freezing outside.
• The dog was dead.
• He is investing in nuclear energy.

However, a non-gradable adjective can be used with "non-grading adverbs" (which usually just give the adjective extra impact), for example:

Here are some example sentences with non-gradable adjectives:

• Her exam results were absolutely awful. She will have to take the exam again.
• Is there anything like it in the world? It must be virtually unique.
• It starts an essentially chemical reaction.

Adjectives that can be gradable and non-gradable

Some adjectives may have more than one meaning or sense. It's possible for the same adjective to be gradable with one sense and non-gradable with another sense. For example:

Adverbs used with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The adverbs really (very much) and fairly and pretty (both meaning "to a significant degree, but less than very") can often be used with gradable and non-gradable adjectives:

"Quite" with gradable and non-gradable adjectives

The meaning of the adverb "quite" changes according to the type of adjective we use it with:

Reference 

2. Babylon Dictionary

3. YourDictionary.com

4. Cambridge Dictionary

5. OLC

6. P.O.D

7. Maker

8. Narcis

11. DicFa

12. Aria Dic

13. Best Dic

14. Farsi Dic

15. dic.amdz.com

16. Pars Translator

17. Fast Dictionary

It is in Publisher format (.pub).

Here’s a brief list of some words which have different pronunciations when they are used in different parts of speech.

The CAPITAL letters indicate the stressed syllable.

1. Different in stressed syllable:

overLOAD (v.), Overload (n.)

overFLOW (v.), Overflow (n.)

inCREASE (v.), INcrease(n.)

imPORT (v.),IMport (n., v.)

exPORT (v.), EXport (n., v.)

COMplex (n., adj.), comPLEX (adj.)

2. Different in vowel letters’ pronunciation:

graduate/`grædʒu,eɪt/ (v.),  /`grædʒuət/ (n.)

alternate/`ɔltər,neɪt/ (v.),  /`ɔltərnət, ɔl`tɜrnət/ (adj.)

separate/`sep(ə),reɪt/ (v.), /`sepərət/ (adj.)

use/juz/ (v.), /jus/ (n.)

excuse/ɪk`skjuz/ (v.), /ɪk`skjus/ (n.)

3. Different in both:

deCREASE /dɪ`kriːs/ (v.), DEcrease/`diː,kriːs/ (n.)

PROgress /`prɑgres/ (v.), progress /`prɑgrəs/ (n.)

reCORD /rɪ`kɔrd/ (v.), REcord /`rekərd/ (n.)

proJECT /prə`dʒekt/ (v.), PROject /`prɑdʒekt/ (n.)