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Tenses

Used To and Would for Past Habits

Past habits and states that are no longer true.

Explanation

Use used to plus the base verb for past habits and past states, and would plus the base verb for repeated past actions. Would cannot describe past states.

Examples

I used to walk to school.
We would play cards every Sunday.
She used to own a small bookshop.

Common mistakes

I use to walk to school.
I used to walk to school.
Used to is fixed.
He would have a bicycle.
He used to have a bicycle.
Would cannot describe states.
Did you used to swim?
Did you use to swim?
After did, drop the -d.

More Tenses

Past Perfect Continuous

Ongoing past action leading up to another past event.

Choosing Tenses in a Narrative

Mixing past simple, past continuous and past perfect.

Present Simple

Facts, habits and timetables.

Present Continuous

Actions happening now or around now.

Present Perfect

Past action with a present result, or an unfinished period.