Some of my students are confused with the use of the expression used to so hopefully this will simplify it.

Used to can be used as an adjective to express being accustomed to something.

“I am used to having a coffee when I wake up.”

“When I lived abroad I wasn’t used to the hot weather.”

Use to + Verb can also be used to express something that happened regularly in the past but doesn’t happen now.

“I used to ski everyday when I lived in the mountains.”

“I used to drink beer when I was younger, but now I drink only drink wine.”

As this form is always used in the past – ed is added, except when using did or didn’t before it, for example in a question.

“Did you use to eat meat?”

“Didn’t we use to go to the same school?”

I hope that clears up any confusion. If you have any particular grammar points you struggle with and you’d like explained in a simpler way, feel free to let me know.

Here’s a couple of questions for you to practice.

What are you used to doing everyday?

What did you use to do but don’t do now?

Leave a comment with your answers.

 

Subscribe to my newsletter if you’d like more tips on speaking English, in particular, British English.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus.

If you’re interested in taking one to one lessons over Skype, get in touch