spelling 1 min read

how do you spell used

Spelling lookup: form card for 'used' with IPA, relationship, examples, and a pronunciation-spelling boundary note.

A closer look

used /juːzd/, adjective and past form of use. Spelled u-s-e-d. After the voiced /z/, the ending is the voiced /d/, /juːzd/; never write useed or usd.

The /juːst/ sound belongs only to fixed constructions like used to, not the plain past verb. The spelling stays u-s-e-d either way.

  • They bought a used car from the dealer. As an adjective before a noun, used means second-hand, owned or driven by someone before.

  • Please throw out that used teabag. The same written form also describes something that has already been used.

  • Phonetic trap: the final letter is never silent. After the voiced /z/ in /juːzd/, the ending is a voiced /d/; the voiceless /st/ ending appears only in the used to construction, while the standalone word is /juːzd/. The spelling u-s-e-d covers both pronunciations.

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