Después de aprender Different Forms to Express the Future, en está lección aprenderás Used to vs Would (Past).
Cuando hablamos de algo que sucedió con regularidad o repetidamente en el pasado pero no ahora, a menudo usamos las estructuras «used to + infinitive’ and `would + infinitive»
Used to + infinitive
- We use used to + infinitive when we talk about things that happened in the past but do not happen now. In the negative we say didn’t use to + infinitive:
- I used to live in a large city, but now I live by the seaside.
- I didn’t use to go swimming everyday. Did you use to live in a small or large city?
- We can use this structure with both states and actions:
- Paul used to be very calm when he was younger. Now he’s stressed all the time. (STATE).
- Paul used to work full-time, but now he only takes on part-time jobs. (ACTION)
Would + infinitive
- When we are telling a story or recalling a situation from a long time ago, we often prefer to use would to describe repeated behaviour in the past, although both would and used to are possible:
- I remember growing up in the countryside. It was a peaceful and simple life. I would pick vegetables every day and from time to time I would feed the chickens with my mother.
- Note that would can only describe past events and actions. It is not usually used with states. To describe past states we can only use used to:
- Paul would be used to be very calm when he was younger. Now he’s stressed all the time.
Both of these expressions are used to talk about things that happened in the past but don’t happen anymore. Often both expressions are possible.
- To talk about repeated past actions, we can use Used to/ Would/ Simple Past:
- My family would go the beach every summer.
- My family used to go to the beach every summer.
- My family went to the beach every summer.
- To talk about past states (long periods of time), we can use only Used to:
- I used to live in California but I moved to Mexico in 2005.
- My favorite aunt used to have beautiful, long hair.
- He used to hate her job until she received a promotion.
Questions:
For questions, we need to use (Did + use to) and (Would)
- Did you use to be shy as a child?
- Did you use to have acne as a teenager?
- Would you play Hide and Seek with your friends when you were a child?
- Would your mother make you make your bed every day before school?
- Did women use to be able to vote in the 1950´s?
- Where did people use to wash their clothes before washing machines?
En la próxima lección aprenderemos The Subjunctive.
