Used to and would

Using ‘Used to' and ‘would'

The constructions ‘used to' and ‘would' can be used to describe habits and states in the past and how these habits and states are no longer true/happening. This can be done using the past simple with the present simple but another feature of ‘used to' and ‘would' is that it saves the speaker time by adding more information with less words.

Subject + Used to + verb (bare infinitive):

• I used to make pizzas = I did make pizzas when I was 21 but now I do not 

• I used to climb trees = I did climb trees when I was a child but now I do not

• I used to live with my parents = I did live with my parents but now I do not

Negative forms of ‘used to' 

We can use the used to and would sentences in the negative to describe changes between the past and the present in a slightly different way. Note the change in form. The ‘used' has now become ‘use' when combined with ‘didn't'

Subject + didn't + use to + verb (bare infinitive):

• I didn't use to live in my car (but now I do)

• I didn't use to drink everyday (but now I do)

• I wouldn't eat snacks when I was a child (but now I do)

You'll notice that in the negative form, the ‘used' becomes ‘use' but when we use ‘never' the negative sentence keeps ‘used'.

Subject + never + used to + verb (bare infinitive):

• I never used to think about doing dangerous things (but now I always/often do)

Using ‘would' with ‘used to' for variety

‘Would' is often used to avoid repetition in the English language. Generally speaking, it can be used instead of ‘used to'

Subject + would + verb (bare infinitive):

• I used to live in the South of England (but now I don't) and I would climb trees when I was a child (but now I don't)

Using ‘used to' and ‘would' in questions

As an alternative to asking past simple questions, we could use ‘used to' and ‘would' for questions. It is worth noting that the form of ‘used to' becomes ‘use to' when used in question forms.

• Did you use to do any housework? 

• What did you use to do when you were younger?

• When did you use to do that?

• Would you climb on cars when you were a teenager?
• Didn't you use to like this?