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Grammar-Quizzes › Verb Phrases › Verbs › Past › Would vs. Used to

Narrate past behavior or past habits

In Context

We kids had a wonderful time when my family lived by the ocean. We would walk to the beach after school. We would quickly find a place to sit and put on our swim suits. Then, we would rush into the oncoming waves and swim our worries away. We would jump the waves and body-surf until mom would pick us up. Then, we would go home, clean up, eat dinner, do our homework, and sleep soundly. The next day, it would begin all over again. We really loved those days with our feet in the sand and our faces in the saltwater.

When I was fourteen, my father accepted a new job. We had to move to a city inland. Our days changed. We used to walk to the beach. But after our move, it was too far away. So instead, we walked to a nearby recreational center to swim. The pool was big, long, clean and very flat. We used to think it was boring because it had no action like the waves that we were used to¹. Shortly after our move, we kids joined the swim team and learned to swim competitively. After a while, we did not miss the beach so much.

¹were used to - accustomed to: We are used to going to school. See Used vs. Be used to.

²used / did use - remember to remove the final -d from used when in a question (Did you use to swim?) or negative context (You didn't use to swim.)

competitively (Adv) - as a participant in competitions (sports); in a manner of trying or desiring to win

inland (N) - an area away from a body of water; interior

jellyfish (N) - a sea creature that floats in the water and gives painful stings with several of its long tentacles

rush (V) - move quickly or move toward something quickly

soundly (Adv) - deeply

used (to) - is a verb that is followed by a specified preposition "to". That is, it requires one preposition in particular. See Verbs with specified prepositions.

waves (N) - rolling action of water onto the beach; also used for the shape of sound signals and the shape of semi-curly hair.

Would vs. Used

Differences Between Would and Used

*not used / ~ borderline use It requires a special context, for example, the rest of the paragraph is written using "would".

Related page Static Verbs. Also so time-relative clauses After/ Before/ When

Word Order

†Use emphasis word order when contradicting or stating that the opposite is true : "I think he didn't use to call every morning." "No, he did call every morning."

Errors and Solutions

Error and Solution

*not used

Related page: Used to vs. Be used to

Pop-Q " Use (to)"

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Traditional Grammar and Linguistic Description

Traditional / ESL and Linguistic Descriptions

TRADITIONAL GRAMMAR

LINGUISTIC DESCRIPTION

WOULD

WOULD

USED TO

USED (TO)

Grammatical Functions: Subject - (Subj) the agent of the action; Predicate/Predicator - (Pred) the action or change in state; Complement - Comp - an element required to complete the subject and predicate; Adjunct - an element not required by the verb, a modifying word, phrase, clause; Supplement - a comment in the form of a word, phrase or clause that is loosely related to the central idea of the sentence.

Lexical Categories "Parts of Speech": N - noun / pronoun; NP - noun phrase; V - verb; VP - verb phrase; Adj - adjective; AdjP - adjective phrase; Adv - adverb; AdvP - adverb phrase; P - preposition; PP - prepositional phrase; Det - determiners - noun markers (e.g., articles, quantifiers, demonstratives, possessives); Subord - subordinator; Coord - coordinator; Interj - interjection; INF - infinitive: GER - gerund; Nonfinite: an infinitive or gerund clause

Azar, Betty Schrampfer, and Stacy A. Hagen. Understanding and Using English Grammar. 4th ed., Pearson Education, 2009.

Garner's Modern American Usage, Bryan A. Garner, 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2009.

Huddleston, Rodney D., and Geoffrey K. Pullum. The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge UP, 2002.

Swan, Michael. Practical English Usage. 3rd ed., Oxford UP, 2005.

Dish washing Days

Read the Paragraph

In the 1950s, women (wash) dishes in the kitchen sink. A woman (wash) the dishes immediately after everyone finished a meal. Her husband (rarely-wash) dishes because it was not considered to be his job. A wife (often-do) the dishes by hand. She (do) the dishes three times a day. I remember that my mother (have) a special towel just for dishes and not for hands.

She (get) angry if we dried our hands with it. She (be) a very strict mother. Did your mother (have) the same rule? She would use a separate towel for dishes, (use) she? My grandmother (do) the dishes for thirty years. Then she bought a dishwasher. Last year, she (use) a dishwasher for the first time and will never go back to hand-washing the dishes!

do the dishes (expression) - wash the dishes

strict (Adj) - imposing rules for behavior

Select the verb forms for past and past habits.

1. Select the response from the list that best completes the sentence.

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 1-12" button.

A Toon Fan

Read for Errors

When we were young, we use to love watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. We would watched "The Road Runner", "Scooby-Doo", and Disney cartoons. Then, as we grew older we would like "The Simpsons" every afternoon. We used to imitate the voices of Bart and Homer Simpson all the time. Our mom would getting angry at us for acting stupid.

Later, we became Anime fans. We used to trade copies of different films. Sometimes, we would had Anime parties and dress up as our favorite characters.

Now, we have kids of our own, and they ask us, "Did you used to watch this when you were young?"

Anime (N) - a style of Japanese animated cartoons, with big-eyed characters, colorful scenes, and action-filled plots (stories)

Disney (N) - cartoons made in the Walt Disney studios such as "Snow White", "Aladdin", "The Little Mermaid", etc.

imitate (V) - act like someone or something in voice, action or appearance

trade (V) - exchange, borrow

Decide if the use of "would" or "used to" is correct.

1. Select "correct" or "incorrect".

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 13-20" button.

Sending Cards

Read for Errors

Before the Internet, we used to sent greeting cards. These including cards for birthdays, graduations, weddings, illness, thank-yous, and sympathy (for illness or death). Now, the Internet allows us to send our thoughts and wishes through email, tweets, social network postings, and electronic greeting cards.

For many people, this is an acceptable way to save time, money, and paper, and still express our caring. For others, it is not proper. For example, my cousin had a birthday last week, so I post my best wishes on Facebook. He happy to receive my greetings. In contrast, my grandmother did not enjoyed receiving birthday greetings over the Internet. She told me to call her if I didn't had the money to send her a card. I think she angry! When I was little, she would always sent me a card on every birthday. I used to looking forward to receiving her cards. So, I will continue the card-sending tradition with her.

In addition to the age of the receiver, the occasion makes a difference. While most of you wouldn't mind a birthday greeting online, you probably would mind a condolence online. Last month, I had to buy the first greeting card of the year. It was for a friend whose father died. I didn't want to post a public message offering sympathy. Instead, I sent a card with some words of sympathy. In the past, we used to visit this friend and bring food, but that is changing now too.

Offering sympathy is also better in person. Yesterday, I called a friend who was sick. I think he appreciated hearing my voice more than anything I could buy or write. In the past, we were used to talk almost everyday.

As the Internet changes our interactions, we have to re-think the customs that we used to. In some cases, we can express our love and caring electronically, but in other cases we need to express it on paper or in person.

condolence (N) - sympathy for someone who has had something bad happen to them, especially when someone has died.

interactions (N) - the ways we communicate and behave with others

sympathy (N) - the feeling of being sorry for someone who is in a bad situation

would mind (V) - object to, be bothersome; as in Would you mind if I sat here?

Edit for Errors

1. Edit the sentence(s) in the text box.

2. Compare your response to the feedback by clicking the "Check" or "Check 21-30" button.

Related page Used to / Be used to

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Contrast using 'would' with 'used to' to narrate past repeated and habitual activities; review contexts where 'used to' is preferred.

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Here's an interactive exercise about gerunds and infinitives after verbs.

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Worksheets and exercises for classroom handouts and online teaching

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Many of our online English exercises now come with downloadable classroom handouts for teachers. These PDF-format files are also perfect for your distance teaching. You can support our site by buying this pack of 60 exercises and worksheets. Thank you!

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Intermediate grammar exercise (B1 level): used to, be used to, get used to

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English grammar practice exercise for intermediate level: used to vs. be used to and get used to There’s a full explanation of this grammar at the bottom of the page.Exercise instructions Cho…

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Liveworksheets transforms your traditional printable worksheets into self-correcting interactive exercises that the students can do online and send to the teacher.

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Past simple, past continuous, past perfect. Tense revision worksheet

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Liveworksheets transforms your traditional printable worksheets into self-correcting interactive exercises that the students can do online and send to the teacher.

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USED TO / GET USED TO / BE USED TO

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FCE - REVISION - USED TO-WOULD, GET USED TO-BE USED TO worksheet

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Used to - be used to - get used to online worksheet for High School. You can do the exercises online or download the worksheet as pdf.

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If you want to live longer you should ....

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If you want to live longer you should ....

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- sleep more / less?
- relax more?
- work harder?
- spend more time with your friends?
- do (extreme) sports?
- do more homework?
- smile?
- live in a city?
- get married?
- drink a lot of water?

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1. Zapytaj o godziny pracy.
2. Zapytaj o nazwisko szefa.
3. zapytaj o przerwę na lunch.
4. Dowiedz się o wysokość pensji.
5. Dowiedz się jakie kwalifikacje są wymagane.
6. Zapytaj rozmówcę czy jest na diecie.
7. Dowiedz się jak do kantyny.

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Task 1.Match the words with the opposite meaning

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Task 1.Match the words with the opposite meaning

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1. temporary                                            a. relaxing
2. flexi - time                                            b. badly-paid
3. full-time                                                c. dismissed
4. stressful                                               d.  permanent
5. well-paid                                               e. repetetive
6. interesting                                            f. seasonal
7. promoted                                             g. a nine-to-five job
8. skilled                                                   h. boring
9. steady                                                   i. part-time
10. varied j. unskilled

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Task 3. Find and correct a mistake in each sentence:

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Task 3. Find and correct a mistake in each sentence:

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1. I wonder how much will I earn in this job.
2. My boss would like to know where did I learn to speak English.
3. Could you tell me where is Reception?
4. I was wondering what are you working on now.
5. I have no idea why aren't we allowed to leave earlier.
6. Do you happen to know can we drink coffee at the desk.
7. I'd like to know how many times have you changed jobs.

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Task 4. Rewrite questions in indirect speech:                                                           1. When can I start?               Can you tell me.....                                                       2. Is any experience necessary?          I'd like to know....                                            3. Is this work part-time?         I'd be interested to know ......                           4. What time do you open?        I wonder .....                                                      5.When does the job start?                Could you tell me...                                        6. Are we required to wear smart clothes?       Do you know ...                      7. How long does it take to get to work?      I'd like to know ....                 8. Is there a canteen in the main building?        Have you got any idea 

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Task 4. Rewrite questions in indirect speech:                                                           1. When can I start?               Can you tell me.....                                                       2. Is any experience necessary?          I'd like to know....                                            3. Is this work part-time?         I'd be interested to know ......                           4. What time do you open?        I wonder .....                                                      5.When does the job start?                Could you tell me...                                        6. Are we required to wear smart clothes?       Do you know ...                      7. How long does it take to get to work?      I'd like to know ....                 8. Is there a canteen in the main building?        Have you got any idea 

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Describe how adverts are made, use the following expressions 

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Describe how adverts are made, use the following expressions 

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1. do a. the people suitable for
2. create  b. ideas to advertise
3. collect c. the advert/ commercial on TV
4. launch d. a new product
5. select e. the advertising campaign
6. employ f. the advert
7. design g. market research
8. record  h. the best proposal
9. play

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find mistakes in the sentences below:

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1. A new sport centre is built in our town at the moment.                                 2. Many roads has been repaired inmy home town recently.                   3. A lot of money are spent to make this area greener.                             4. A new shopping centre has been opened last week.                                    5. These books can't been delivered to your house.                                  6. I think we were being follow on our way home last night.                    7. Who was this article wrote by?                                                                  8. When was your car breake into?                                                               9. Black cats is believed to bring bad luck.                                                      10. Polish people are sayed to be very hospitable.

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1. A new sport centre is built in our town at the moment.                                 2. Many roads has been repaired inmy home town recently.                   3. A lot of money are spent to make this area greener.                             4. A new shopping centre has been opened last week.                                    5. These books can't been delivered to your house.                                  6. I think we were being follow on our way home last night.                    7. Who was this article wrote by?                                                                  8. When was your car breake into?                                                               9. Black cats is believed to bring bad luck.                                                      10. Polish people are sayed to be very hospitable.