Unit 17: The Digital Revolution
'Used to' for past habits
Select a unit
- 1 Nice to meet you!
- 2 What to wear
- 3 Like this, like that
- 4 The daily grind
- 5 Christmas every day
- 6 Great achievers
- 7 The Titanic
- 8 Travel
- 9 The big wedding
- 10 Sunny's job hunt
- 11 The bucket list
- 12 Moving and migration
- 13 Welcome to BBC Broadcasting House
- 14 New Year, New Project
- 15 From Handel to Hendrix
- 16 What's the weather like?
- 17 The Digital Revolution
- 18 A detective story
- 19 A place to live
- 20 The Cult of Celebrity
- 21 Welcome to your new job
- 22 Beyond the planets
- 23 Great expectations!
- 24 Eco-tourism
- 25 Moving house
- 26 It must be love
- 27 Job hunting success... and failure
- 28 Speeding into the future
- 29 Lost arts
- 30 Tales of survival
Session 3
We're off to Australia in this session! Read an article all about how mining has changed 'down under'. See how the past is compared to the present with used to. And Alice returns with a useful spelling tip.
Activity 2
Spelling tip
'Used to' or 'use to'?
We've seen and heard lots of examples of used to in this unit. But do you know why we sometimes write used to and other times we write use to - without a -d? Don’t worry – it’s not that difficult. Here’s Alice again to help you!
Watch the video
Alice
Phew! I’m glad the debate’s over. I think I won. Anyway, now I’ve got a language tip for you.
Listen to these two sentences.
I used to write letters to my family.
I didn’t use to email them.
What’s the difference? Well, one is positive and one is negative. But what about spelling? Let’s have a look.
I used to write letters to my family.
I didn’t use to email them.
Well, in I used to write, used ends in –ed because it’s a past form. In I didn’t use to email, use doesn’t end in –ed because we have the auxiliary didn’t, which is already in the past.
Got it? Well, why don’t you have a try and make some sentences of your own?
So, the reason why we sometimes say used to and at other times use to depends on if we have an auxiliary verb or not.
I used to write letters to my family. This sentence is positive and the verb used is in the past, so we write it with an –ed ending.
I didn’t use to email them. This sentence is in the past as well, but it’s negative. So that means we don’t end use with –ed. The auxiliary didn’t is already in the past.
Take note: formal usage
There is a time when you might see or hear used not to in a negative past form. I used not to like him, but now we are best friends. But this is very formal usage, and you won’t hear it often in spoken English.
Take note: questions
It is the same for questions with used to.
Did you use to like drinking tea when you were a child?
Where did you use to go on holiday when you were at school?
You can read more about this in the Unit 17 Grammar reference.
End of Session 3
We’ve seen used to in positive and negative forms and formal and informal language. Join us in Session 4 when we’ll meet Christine. She's going to tell us all about a big change in her life. After that, it's time for News Report where we'll hear about schools - with no rules!
Then it's over to you to put your learning into practice. We want to hear from you about the changes in your life!
Session Grammar
We use used to + infinitive for:
- things we did regularly in the past, but we don't do now.
- past facts which are no longer true.
I used to work at a restaurant, but now I work at a library.
NOT: I used to eat some cake last Saturday night. ('Saturday night' was just one time, so it was not something that happened regularly.)
Used to helps us to compare activities in the past and now. When we say used to, we do not do something now.
I used to work at a restaurant. I quit that job, and then got a new job at a library.
The different forms are:
positive: used to + infinitive
I used to live in Istanbul. Now I live in Columbia.
negatives & questions: did / did not / didn't + use to + infinitive
I didn't use to like sushi. Now I love it!Did you use to work in a restaurant?