Express Yourself: talk about past habits

‘Used to’ and ‘would’ are both expressions in English that are used to talk about past habits or repeated actions from the past. You can use them to talk about routines, habits, or states of being that you no longer do. 

‘Used to’ for past habits and past state of being 

‘Used to” is a phrase that describes a past state (feeling) or habit (action) that you no longer do.  

Form

✅Positive: used to + verb base ⇨ I used to love going to the beach in the summers. 

✖Negative: didn’t use to + verb base ⇨ I didn’t use to like tomatoes when I was young!

?Questions: Did + subject +  use to + verb base ⇨ Did you use to see him on campus? 

Examples

I used to play soccer every Saturday. (past habit/ activity)

⇨ This means  that playing soccer was a regular activity or habit in the past but now, it is not. 

I used to be shy when I was a kid. (past state of being) 

⇨ This means  that the state of being shy was true when this person was a child but is no longer the case. 

She used to live in New York before moving to California. (past state of being)

⇨ She lived in New York before, but now she does not. 

They used to be close friends, but they lost touch over the years. (past state of being)

⇨ They were close friends, but now they are not. 

So, you’re probably thinking, what’s a state of being? How is it different from repeated actions/ habits? ⬇️

Practice the difference between states of being and past habits/ repeated actions here. ⬇️

‘Would’ for past repeated actions/ habits 

‘Would’ is used to describe past habits or repeated actions as well, but not past states of being. Don’t forget, it is common to use the contracted version (eg. I would = I’d | she would =she’d  |  we would = we’d etc.) 

Form

We don’t normally use would in question or negative form. It used in the positive form. 

✅Positive: would + verb base ⇨ I would see every week when he was visiting us. 

Examples 

When I was a child, I would (I’d)  visit my grandparents every summer. 

⇨ visiting my grandparents was a regular activity that we did in the past 

When I was a child, I would ride my bike to school every day.

⇨ In the past, I rode my bike to school regularly. 

Every summer, we would take family trips to the lake.

⇨ In the past, we took regularly family trips to the lake. 

She would always make cookies for her friends' birthdays.

⇨ She made cookies for her friends’ birthdays all the time; it was a regular habit. 

On weekends, they would go hiking in the nearby mountains. 

⇨ Going hiking was a regular and repeated activity on the weekends. 

*note that these examples are all of past repeated actions / habits (NO PAST STATE OF BEING)

Practice 

Watch this video of Tom Cruise speaking about some things he ‘used to’ and ‘would’ do as a child. 

• How many things does Tom Cruise mention that he used to do or would do as a kid? 

Use this activity to practice using used to and would to talk about past habits and past states of being. ⤵️