Used To and Would

Introduction:

Do you ever get confused with the grammar for “would” ? There’s a lot of ways we use “would” in English.

Did you know that you can use “would” and “used to” the same way?

In today’s tutorial, I’m going to show you

• The context and meaning of these words
• Forms/structures of “used to” and “would”
• The rules
• How to use these in conversation

Context and Meaning:

• We can use “used to” and “would” when we are talking about the past------but specifically------habitual actions and routines in the past.
• But, that are no longer happening now, presently. They’re in the past.
• So, things we did routinely, habitually or multiple times; or events that occurred routinely/multiple times; situations that existed-----but no longer happen or exist.

Forms and Structures:

• “Used to”:
• “Used to” is in the past tense.
• We say “used to” with a simple form or present tense verb
• Is used with any regular verb or stative verb (state of “be”)—how you feel, how you are or how something “is”.
• “I used to exercise every morning.”
• “I didn’t use to exercise every morning. But now I do.”
• *Notice that the negative didn’t, is in the past tense, so “use to” is in the simple form, without a “d” (used).

• (Forms and Structures):
• Adverbs: always/never used to (put before “used to”)
• “My friends and I always used to play video games everyday after school.”
• “I used to eat junk food.” à “I never used to eat junk food.”

“Would”:

• “would” is also the past tense form
• We also say “would” with a simple form or present tense verb:
• “I would finish my assignments early.”
• Using adverbs: would always/never/sometimes.. (after “would”)
• I would always go to bed early when I was in high school.

The Rules:

• “I used to work at night.”
• “We used to love going to the beach every weekend.” (“love” is a stative verb)
• However, we cannot use “would” with stative verbs (verbs of “be”):
• be, have, live, like
• “We used to love going to the beach every weekend. Not: “I would love going to the beach every weekend.” (Explain)
• “I used to live in a little mountain town. Not “I would live in a little mountain town. (Explain)
• “I used to have a red sports car.” Not “I would have a red sports car.”

(The Rules)

“Whenever we would go shopping, you would tell me not to spend all my money.”

• “I would see some expensive jacket but you wouldn’t let me buy it.”
• For this sentence, it’s more common to use “would”.
• Here’s why:
• When we talk about something in the past that happened many times or several times, but not as a routine or habit, it’s common to use “would”. In the previous sentence, maybe we didn’t go shopping regularly or routinely, but sometimes we went shopping together. In the second sentence, I’m giving an example (I didn’t see an expensive jacket EVERY time, But I’m making the point that when I wanted to buy something that was expensive, you stopped me.  And because we went shopping many times in the past, I use the past habitual “would”.)

More examples of “would”

• “Remember how we’d sit around at the café and talk?” “Remember when our English teacher would let us bring donuts to class sometimes?”
• The neighbor’s dog would get out of the yard and chase everyone down the street.
• These activities didn’t necessarily happen routinely but they did happen many times, on different occasions.
• This isn’t really a rule. It’s just a common way we use English.

How to use these in conversation:

• When I was in school, I used to/would stay up late on the weekends.
• I used to live in ________________________.
• I used to take music lessons.
• Think of a hobby you used to have or do: (play the piano, play soccer, sky-dive, travel, etc.

I used to______________________________________________________________.

Think of some changes in your life.  How has your life changed in the past 3 years, 5 years, or maybe just in the last year?

I used to _______________________ but now I ______________________________________.

I never used to ___________________________, but now I_____________________________.

I would _____________________________, but now I _________________________________.

Answers to Practice Exercise:

• When I was in school, I used to/would stay up late on the weekends.
• When I was in high school, I used to have more time for outdoor activities.
• I used to/would go camping in the fall. There never used to be any mosquitoes back then.
• The weather used to be cooler in the fall. My sister and I used to/would hike on the trails all afternoon.
• We used to/would see deer in the forest.
• Late at night, we used to/would sit by the campfire and tell ghost stories while roasting marshmallows. I used to love sleeping in a tent under the stars.
• I always used to look forward to those camping trips.
• I would always look forward to those camping trips.