Grammar – How to Use ‘Used to ‘

In the listening lesson “Let’s Go to The Ex!”, I said…

When I was a kid, I used to love to go on as many rides as possible, play as many games as possible (and win as many stuffed animals as possible!).

We use used to to…

1)…talk about something you did in the past (a repeated action, a habit, something you did for months or years), but you do NOT do now:

When I was young, I used to play in the park with my friends. I don’t play in the park with my friends anymore.

I used to teach kindergarten, but now I teach grade 1.

I used to be a very picky eater. I eat everything now!

I used to play a lot of sports when I was young. After I broke my leg I had to stop playing sports!

2)…talk about something that happened regularly in the past, but doesn’t happen anymore:

The clothing store used to have a sale every month! It only has a sale once in awhile now.

I miss how you used to make me smile with your crazy jokes.

We used to go to church every Sunday.

3)..talk about something that was true in the past, but is not true now:

This used to be a pet store. Now, it’s a bank!

Life used to be so much easier.

People used to think the earth was flat and the sun revolved around the earth.

You used to be able to smoke on airplanes. In fact, you used to be able to smoke anywhere – the workplace, the grocery store, even the doctor’s office!

IMPORTANT!
Used to is only used to talk about the past. It is not used in any other very tense.

INCORRECT: Now I use to play tennis.

Pronunciation

For this use of used, the ‘d’ at the end of the word is pronounced /t/. Used to actually sounds like ‘useto’ / ju:s.tu:/

Questions – Did ____ use to…?

Did you use to smoke?

What did we use to do before computers?!

Didn’t Ken use to live here, too?

Negative

1) didn’t use to…
*The correct negative form is didn’t use to but it common to see people write ‘didn’t used to’.

I didn’t use to smoke. I started smoking when I lost my job.

She didn’t use to be so fat. She put on a lot of weight after she had a baby.

2) never use to…

I never use to be afraid of dogs, but then I was bitten by one and now I’m terrified of dogs!

3) not like I used to
*This expression can be used when you want to say that you continue to do something now that you did in the past, but differently (not as much or as often as you used to do).

I don’t drink and party as much as I used to. I still go out and have fun, but not like I used to.

I love you, but not like I used to.

Tagged as: verbs