The Best Guide to Expressing Past Habits

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In English, you can use both “used to” and “would” for expressing past habits to emphasize that they are not true anymore.[1]https://blog.off2class.com/habits-and-repeated-actions-past/

Because they are used to talk about habits, it is slightly different than the past simple tense or the past continuous tense.

expressing past habits

Would

You can use the word “would” to talk about repeated actions in the past. A repeated action is an action that happens at a specific moment in time in the past.

You can use “would” for:

  • Moral formal situations
  • Events that happen many times

Examples include:

  • I would
    practice the piano every day.
  • She would
    hide every time I tried to find her.
  • They would
    have loud parties every Friday evening.

Used to

You can use the words “used to” to talk about states in the past. A state is a condition that happens over a period of time in the past.

You can use “used to” for:

  • Questions
  • Negatives
  • Stative verbs

Examples include:

  • We used
    to     live in Paris when I was younger.
  • He didn’t use
    to     be shorter than me.
  • Did she use
    to     go to school with us?

Expressing Past Habits Practice Exercises

Choose the correct the correct form between “would” and “used to” for expressing past habits.

 13%

Question 1 of 8

1. My dog ________ chew on everything in the house.

Question 1 of 8

Question 2 of 8

2. Susie ________ to live in New York City.

Question 2 of 8

Question 3 of 8

3. They ________ live in Los Angeles.

Question 3 of 8

Question 4 of 8

4. She ________ like dancing.

Question 4 of 8

Question 5 of 8

5. They ________ have a dog.

Question 5 of 8

Question 6 of 8

6. When he was younger, he ________ play baseball with his friends.

Question 6 of 8

Question 7 of 8

7. When I was younger, I ________ go surfing during the summer.

Question 7 of 8

Question 8 of 8

8. When I was a child, I ________ often dream of becoming an actor.

Question 8 of 8


 

How did you do?

If some of these questions were tricky don’t worry — this is one of the topics that confuses English learners the most.

Sometimes reading alone isn’t enough. A private one on one lesson can clear up any confusion quickly and help you use this grammar naturally and confidently.

book an english lesson

References[+]