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Used to and would. Ghita Ruxandra. Forms:. Used to + verb(infinitive) 'Used to' describes an old habit that stopped in the past. It shows that there was repetition in the past but it probably doesn’t occur now. (A past habit)
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Used to and would Ghita Ruxandra
Used to+ verb(infinitive) • 'Used to' describes an old habit that stopped in the past. It shows that there was repetition in the past but it probably doesn’t occur now.(A past habit) e.g. My dad used to do Aikido. We used to go skiing every winter. I used to love sushi but I seem to have gone off it now.
'Used to' can also describe past facts or generalizations that are no longer true. e.g. Danny used to live in England. Most people in the south of the country used to be farmers. Fred used to have a stressful job. Tess used to be fat. Now she has a great figure.
Used to – Past Simple • 'Used to' and the Past Simple can both describe past habits, facts and generalisations but 'used to' is better when an emphasis is required especially if the repetition is the emphasis of the sentence. However with questions and negative sentences Past Simple is preferred. e.g. You used to do ballet. Did you do ballet when you were young? You did not do ballet when you were young.
Would • We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again... e.g. When he was at university, he would sleep until noon at the weekends. My sister lived in Australia for many years, but she would always come home for Christmas. I would always forget my homework, until the teacher threatened to punish me.
‘Would’ is used to describe something that happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen any longer, ‘would’ should not be used unless it has already been established that the time frame is in the past, while ‘used to’ does not require this. e.g. I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV. *I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV. When I was little, I would get up and watch cartoons every Saturday morning. Now I rarely watch TV.
‘Would’ is not used with stative verbs such as love, be, understand, and feel. Compare these two sentences with the stative verb love: e.g. When I was a student, I used tolove sleeping late on the weekends. (natural and grammatical) *When I was a student, Iwouldlove sleeping late on weekends. (awkward and ungrammatical)