Used to (Past Habits and States)
📌 Lesson Contents
🎯 Lesson goal
In this lesson you will learn to use used to 📖 to talk about habits or situations in the past that no longer exist. You will learn how to form it and when to use it 🧠, and then practise straight away with the test at the bottom of the page! 🚀
🌟 What does “Used to” mean?
We use used to for:
- Past habits: actions you repeated regularly in the past but don’t do any more. ⏳❌
- Past states: situations or conditions in the past that have changed or are not true now.
🔍 How do we form it? (Affirmative)
Formula: Subject + used to + base verb
📌 Examples:
- I used to play football. ➔ (I played football in the past [but I don’t play now].) ⚽
- She used to live in Rome. ➔ (She lived in Rome in the past [but she lives somewhere else now].) 🏛️
🔍 How do we form the negative?
Formula: Subject + didn’t use to + base verb
📌 Examples:
- I didn’t use to like vegetables. ➔ (I didn’t like vegetables [but now I do].) 🥦
⚠️ Careful! In the negative, use loses the final -d because the past auxiliary didn’t is already there!
🔍 How do we ask questions?
Formula: Did + subject + use to + base verb?
📌 Examples:
- Did you use to play an instrument? ➔ (Did you play an instrument in the past?) 🎸
⚠️ Careful! In questions too, use is written WITHOUT the final -d!
🧩 Summary table – Used to
| Sentence type | Structure | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Affirmative | Subject + used to + base verb | I used to swim every day. 🏊♂️ |
| Negative | Subject + didn’t use to + base verb | She didn’t use to like pizza. 🍕 |
| Question | Did + subject + use to + base verb? | Did they use to travel a lot? ✈️ |
❓ Basic questions answered
- Can I use “used to” for present habits?
➔ No! Used to is only for the past. For the present, use frequency adverbs with the Present Simple. - Does the verb after “used to” take -ing or “to”?
➔ No! Use the base form of the verb, with no changes (e.g. I used to play, NOTI used to playing). - Are “use” and “used to” the same thing?
➔ No! To use means to make use of something, but used to is a special structure for past habits.
🚫 Common mistakes to avoid
| Mistake ❌ | Correct ✅ |
|---|---|
| I used to playing football. | I used to play football. (Use the base verb!) |
| She didn’t used to live here. | She didn’t use to live here. (No -d after didn’t!) |
| Did you used to dance? | Did you use to dance? (No -d in questions!) |
👉 Remember: negative and question ➔ USE TO (no -d)!
📌 Final summary
- Used to ➔ past actions or situations that no longer exist.
- Affirmative: used to + base verb
- Negative: didn’t use to + base verb
- Question: Did + subject + use to + base verb?
Practise by talking about what your life was like years ago! ✨
Gap Fill & Translation Exercises
Test yourself! In the first 15 sentences, write ‘used to’, ‘didn’t use to’ or ‘use to’ with the verb in brackets. In the last 5, write the sentence in English from the clues.