please translate
14 Oct 2015 01:07
niracpp
New Membermain cigarette nahin pita (smoke) tha
gvshwnth
Moderatormain cigarette nahin pita (smoke) tha
I did not use to smoke.
GV
niracpp
New MemberCould i say (i am not used to smoke)
saral1
Member@niracpp
Could i say (i am not used to smoke)
Actually you can’t say ‘(I am not used to smoke.) in English if you are talking about cigarettes.
‘Used to’ has two common meanings in English:
1. ‘Used to’ meaning a person is ‘accustomed to’ something, that is, it is fairly normal for them. For example:
a. He is used to very hot weather.
b. She is used to cooking dinner for a large number of people
Note that this usage can also be used in the negative:
a. She is not used to hot weather (so visiting in summer would be difficult.)
b. He is not used to cooking (for anyone).
Your question is whether ‘I am not used to smoke’ is OK. It would be perfectly acceptable using this sense of ‘used to’ and where ‘smoke’ refers to धुआँ not to ‘smoking’ cigarettes.
2. ‘Used to’ is commonly used to refer to habitual actions that a person did in the past or situations that were common in the past. ‘Used to’ in this sense always implies that practices or situations have changed to something different. For example:
a. I used to smoke cigarettes. (suggesting I no longer do.)
b. The air in this city used to be very smokey. (Suggesting the air is better now.)
c. Where I live it is not as smokey as it used to be.
Note that this usage does not occur in the negative. To get a negative for this sense you have to use a completely different construction. The most common would be:
a. ’ I have never smoked cigarettes’. As you can see this is not a literal, word for word translation of the Hindi (main cigarette nahin pita (smoke) tha) but it has the same sense; telling that something was not a habitual practice.
b. This city has never been polluted/smokey.
Hope that helps.
S1.
niracpp
New Memberthank you, it is perfect
gvshwnth
ModeratorGreat answer from Saral1
Much appreciated.
Regards
GV