Grammar B2. Used to and would

Function: When do we use them?
used to and would
When I was a teenager, I used to rollerblade to school every day.
I remember that! You used to have blue hair and we would point at you from the bus!
I used to rollerblade every day. Was this a one-time event or an action that was repeated/a habit?
It was repeated/a habit.
You used to have blue hair. In this sentence, is this an activity/habit or a situation/state?
A situation/state
We would point at you. In this sentence, is this an activity/habit or a situation/state?
An activity/habit
I used to rollerblade every day. In this sentence, is this an activity/habit or a situation/state?
An activity/habit
Take notice of when we use used to and/or would here.
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Function: When do we use them?
2. used to and would
How do we form the present tenses?
When referring to the past, we can only use would with habits and activities. We CANNOT say, for example,
When I was a child, I would live in New York, as this is a situation, not an activity.
Notice how we can only use used to for states and situations. E.g.
State: She used to have a Ferrari.
Situation: She used to live in New York.
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Form: How do we make these structures?
You used to have blue hair and we would point at you from the bus!
The bare infinitive (with no ‘to’).
You didn’t use to have blue hair.
Did you use to have blue hair?
You used to have blue hair. Change this into the negative and question form.
What form of the verb follows used to and would?
Copyright © 2019 by Pearson Education Gold Experience | Focus | High Note