Used to and would – When do we use it?

Used to and would (other ways to talk about the past) Used to and would – When do we use it?

Used to + infinitive:

We use it to talk about the things that we did repeatedly in the past.

He used to play football when he was a student.
What kind of music did you use to listen to as a teenager?
He didn’t use to play football.

We use it to talk about habits or states that have changed (in contrast with the present). It does not happen any longer.

I used to have long hair. (I have no more long hair.)
We didn’t use to have a car when we were students. (We have a car now.)
I didn’t use to wear glasses when I was younger. (I do wear glasses now).

Would + Infinitive:

Describes repeated actions, not states. When we use would it means that something happened many times in the past, or a habitual activity typical of a person, or we can express our feelings. We can also use past simple.

Every Sunday he would buy me a bunch of flowers. (nostalgia)
She would help her grandma during the holidays. (personal memories)

Can we use both, used to and would?

Both used to and would can be used to refer to repeated actions and events in the past. (The past simple implies that something happened only once.)

When we speak about a past state, we can only say used to.

When I was young I used to/would sleep until noon. (it was repeated again and again and again.)
When he was at school, he used to/would play tennis. (repeated activity)

We used to live in Paris when I was young. (not repeated over and over, it’s a past situation)
She used to hate going to school. (past state)
This building used to be a department store. (past state)

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Used to and would (other ways to talk about the past)

Quizzes

Used to and would – When do we use it?

Used to + infinitive:

Would + Infinitive:

Can we use both, used to and would?