USED TO:
Let’s learn another way to talk about repeated actions in the past.
You can put ‘used to’ before the basic form of a verb, to express a habit or state that occured in the finished or long past.
Here are some examples:
We rode our bikes every day.
We used to ride our bikes every day.
My friends fished in the river.
My friends used to fish in the river.
I lived in the city before I moved to the farm.
I used to live in the city before I moved to the farm.
TAKE NOTE!
Notice the difference between these sentences:
You used to walk to work before you bought a car. This sentence means ‘you walked to work’.
You ARE used to walkING to work. This sentence means ‘you are accustomed to walking to work.’
WOULD:
Another way to talk about repeated actions in the past is to use ‘would’.
We rode our bikes every day.
We would ride our bikes every day.
My friends fished in the river.
My friends would fish in the river.
I lived in the city before I moved to the farm.I would live in the city before I moved to the farm.
The last sentence is incorrect. Can you guess why?
The rule is that we can only use ‘dynamic’ verbs with ‘would’ in the past. ‘Dynamic’ means to move or change, and dynamic verbs imply actions, like run, eat or go. The opposite of dynamic verbs are ‘state’ (or ‘stative’) verbs. These refer to states of being, something that exists but doesn’t change. They are verbs for emotion, thoughts, senses, and belonging.
Here is a short list of state verbs that we DON’T use with ‘would’ in the past:
like
love
hate
know
remember
own
need
see
hear
live
‘Would’ for repeated actions in the past is used in very high-level, literary writing and speech. It is important that you are able to identify it, and understand why it is used, so that you aren’t confused when you encounter it. But when in doubt, you can always use the regular Past Simple forms or ‘used to’ + the base form of the verb.
Can you use would in these Past Simple sentences? For the sentences that are incorrect with ‘would’, think two ways that you can say them correctly. (Hint: Use the Past Simple and ‘used to’ + the base form of the verb.)
TAKE NOTE!
We don’t use state verbs with ‘would’ in the past, but we CAN use them in other contexts. For example, We CAN use ‘would’ with these verbs in the Second Conditional.
I would like hot chococate when I was a child.
I would like hot chocolate, please.
We would live in the mountains when we were kids.
We would live in the mountains, if we could live anywhere.
