[NEW] Would, Used To Or Simple Past | used to กับ would – NATAVIGUIDES

Fill in the blanks with an appropriate verb phrase.

1. He …………….. smoke but now he has stopped.

would

used to

smoked

Correct!

Wrong!

We use used to talk about past habits and states.

2. She ……….. always bring us nice gifts.

used to

would

Either could be used here

Correct!

Wrong!

Both would and used to can be used to talk about repeated actions in the past.

3. I ………………… go skiing but now I don’t.

used to

would

was used to

Correct!

Wrong!

We use ‘used to’ to talk about past states.

4. You used to hate him, ……………….?

used you not

don’t you

didn’t you

Correct!

Wrong!

Used to is not used in the question tags. We use ‘did’ here because the statement is in the past tense.

5. ……………….. play basketball at college?

Used you to

Did you use to

Either could be used here

Correct!

Wrong!

In a formal style, used to is often used as a modal auxiliary verb. In this case, questions and negatives are made without do. In an informal style we make questions and negatives with do.

6. I ………………… like classical music, but now I do.

did not use to

used not to

used to not

All of the above

Correct!

Wrong!

When we make negatives, not can go before or after to. Did not use to is also possible here in an informal style.

7. I …………………. have any interest in politics.

Please select 2 correct answers

did not use to

did not used to

used not to

Correct!

Wrong!

Did not use to and used not to are possible here. Did not used to is not considered correct.

8. I …………….. in Mumbai for 13 years.

lived

would live

used to live

Correct!

Wrong!

We do not use ‘used to’ to simply say what happened at a past time or how long it took. Those meanings are expressed with the simple past.

9. I ………………… be afraid of dogs.

would

used to

was used to

Correct!

Wrong!

Would cannot be used to talk about past states.

10. I couldn’t understand them because I ………………… their accent.

didn’t use to

wasn’t used to

used wasn’t to

Correct!

Wrong!

If you are not used to something, it is not familiar to you.

11. It took me quite some time to get ………………… alone.

used to live

used to living

Either could be used here

Correct!

Wrong!

We use an ing form after get used to. The infinitive is not possible in this structure.

12. I …………….. to London twice last month.

used to go

would go

went

Correct!

Wrong!

We do not use ‘used to’ to simply say what happened at a past time or how long it took. Those meanings are expressed with the simple past.

Answers

1. He used to smoke but now he has stopped.

2. She would / used to always bring us nice gifts.

3. I used to go skiing but now I don’t.

4. You used to hate him, didn’t you?

5. Used you to / Did you use to play basketball at college?

6. I did not use to / used not to / used to not like classical music, but now I do.

7. I didn’t use to / used not to have any interest in politics.

8. I lived in Mumbai for 13 years.

9. I used to be afraid of dogs.

10. I couldn’t understand them because I wasn’t used to their accent.

11. It took me quite some time to get used to living alone.

12. I went to London twice last month.

Do you know how to talk about past habits using used to, would and the past simple?

Look at these examples to see how used to, would and the past simple are used.

They used to live in London.
I didn’t use to like olives.
We would always go to the seaside for our holidays.
But one holiday we went to the mountains instead.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1

Past habits: Grammar test 1

Grammar explanation

When we talk about things in the past that are not true any more, we can do it in different ways.

Used to + infinitive

We can use used to to talk about past states that are not true any more.

We used to live in New York when I was a kid.
There didn’t use to be a supermarket there. When did it open?
Did you use to have a garden?

We can also use used to to talk about past habits (repeated past actions) that don’t happen any more.

I used to go swimming every Thursday when I was at school.
She used to smoke but she gave up a few years ago.

used to + infinitive should not be confused with be/get used to + -ing, which has a different meaning. The difference is covered here.

Would

We can use would to talk about repeated past actions that don’t happen any more.

Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
My dad would read me amazing stories every night at bedtime.

would for past habits is slightly more formal than used to. It is often used in stories. We don’t normally use the negative or question form of would for past habits. Note that we can’t usually use would to talk about past states. 

Past simple

We can always use the past simple as an alternative to used to or would to talk about past states or habits. The main difference is that the past simple doesn’t emphasise the repeated or continuous nature of the action or situation. Also, the past simple doesn’t make it so clear that the thing is no longer true.

We went to the same beach every summer.
We used to go to the same beach every summer.
We would go to the same beach every summer.

If something happened only once, we must use the past simple.

I went to Egypt in 2014. 

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2

Past habits: Grammar test 2