Used to/would

Introduction

We use "used to" and "would" to describe habits or truths in the past; they do not happen or are not true in the present.

We can use "used to" or "would" to describe repeated actions in the past
We only use "used to" for truths in the past.

Examples:

"used to" or "would"

I used to get up at 6am to go to school.
I would get up at 6am to go to school.

used to

I used to live in France. not I ~~would~~ live in France.
I used to have a pet rabbit. not I ~~would~~ have a pet rabbit.
These are truths in the past.

"used to" vs. "would"
Compare the following sentences:

I used to / would go camping when I was young.
"go" describes a repeated action.
I used to love camping when I was young.
"love" describes a truth.

Form 1 - used to

We use "used to" with the infinitive of the main verb (without to). In negative and question forms, we use "did" with "use to" (not "~~used to~~"):

Positive	I / You / We / They He / She / It	used to	like	chocolate.
Negative		didn't use to did not use to

question

Did

I / you / we / they
he / she / it

use to

like

chocolate?

Practice

Complete the sentences with the positive, negative or question form of "used to" using the verb in brackets:

.

1)

Sarah good at dancing. (be)

2)

When I was young, I fish but now I eat it all the time. (not eat)

3)

I piano lessons. (have)

4)

Where did they to school? (go)

Form 2 - would

We use "would" with the infinitive of the main verb (without "to"):

Positive	I / You / We / They He / She / It	would	eat	chocolate.
Negative		wouldn't would not

question

Would

I / you / we / they
he / she / it

eat

chocolate?

We can contract "would" and the subject pronoun:
I’d / you’d / we’d / they’d / she’d / he’d / it’d

Practice

Complete the sentences with the positive, negative or question form of "would" using the verb in brackets:

.

1)

When I was learning to play the piano, I every evening. (practise)

2)

At university, Michael until late at night. (study)

3)

They spicy food when they were young. (not eat)

4)

Before you bought a car, how you to work? (travel)

Form 3 - "used to" / "would" with "always", "never", "ever"

We can use "always" with the positive, negative and question forms of "used to" and "would". We use "never" with the positive form of "used to" and "would" and "ever" with the negative and question forms:

used to

Positive	I / You / We / They He / She / It	never / always		used to	like		chocolate.
Negative		didn't did not	ever / always

question

Did

I / you / we / they
he / she / it

ever / always

use to

like

chocolate?

would

Positive	I / you / we / they he / she / it	never / always		used to	like		chocolate.
Negative		didn't did not	ever / always

question

Would

I / you / we / they
he / she / it

ever / always

eat

chocolate?

Examples:

I always used to swim at the weekend.
I would always swim at the weekend.
He never used to swim at the weekend.
Would he ever swim at the weekend?

Practice

Complete the sentences using either "used to" or "would" and the verb in brackets:

.

1)

He always vegetables at the market. (buy)

2)

Sarah never . (smoke)

3)

They always English. (speak)

4)

Did they ever to the library? (go)

Further practice

Complete the sentences with the correct answer from a, b, c or d:
.

1)

We ____ breakfast in the same café every morning.

would to have

used to have

would had

use to have

2)

I ____ the bus to school.

always would take

used always to take

used always take

would always take

3)

They ____ on time.

wouldn't finish always

always wouldn't finish

always wouldn't to finish

wouldn't always finish

4)

He ____ Mexican food but he loves it now.

didn't used to like

wouldn't liked

didn't use to like

wouldn't to like

5)

____ work in a bank?

Would he to

Did he use to

He would to

Did he used to

6)

When they were children, ____ the dinner?

would they cook ever

would ever they cook

they would ever cook

would they ever cook

Note that you'll sometimes hear the order of "never" / "always" and "used to" switched in spoken English, as in the example: "I used to always like chocolate."

However, for the examples and exercises in this worksheet we've used the standard word order as explained above (e.g. "I always used to like chocolate.").