Past tenses: Used to and would

1. Past tenses
Used to / would
Cristian Vallejo Nuñez

2. Past tense
In general, the past tense is used to talk about something that started and finished at a definite time in the
past.
How to form the Past Tense in English
The main rule is that for every verb in English, there is only one form of it in the past tense.
This is totally different from other languages such as Spanish, French, Italian etc. where you change the verb
ending for every subject.
To change a regular verb into
its past tense form, we normally add –ed
to the end of the verb.
Irregular verbs are ONLY irregular in
affirmative/positive sentences. If it does not end
in –ed, it is considered irregular.
The –ed verb is used as the past tense
for all subjects/pronouns.
play – played
cook – cooked
rain – rained
wait – waited
The past tense of GO is WENT.
The word went is used for all subjects/pronouns.
I went to the beach
He went to the park.
She went to the zoo.
They went to the library.

3. Used to / would
There are two different ways to talk about past habits. You can use used to or would to
describe actions that you did repeatedly in the past.
I used to walk to school.
I would walk to school.
We can use used to, but not would, to talk about past situations (not repeated actions).
I used to live in Paris.
(Living somewhere is a long-term situation not an action that you do repeatedly.)

4. Used to
 A past habit
Used to describes something was an old habit that stopped in the past. It shows that there
was repetition in the past but it probably doesn’t occur now.
My dad used to do Aikido.
We used to go skiing every winter.
I used to love sushi but I seem to have gone off it now.
 Facts and generalisations in the past
Used to can also describe past facts or generalisations that are no longer true.
Danny used to live in England.
Most people in the south of the country used to be farmers.
Fred used to have a stressful job.

5. Would
We can use would to talk about repeated past actions.
Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
My teachers would always say “Sit down and shut up!”
Like used to and the past simple, would with 'always' suggests an old habit that stopped in
the past.
My grandmother would always get me a book for Christmas.
Sarah would always come late to work on Mondays.
It is important to remember that 'would always' is not the same as ‘used to’.
I used to be painfully shy when I was young.
NOT I would always be painfully shy when I was young.
BUT I would always be shy when I met new people when I was a young boy.
(In this case 'would always' is describing a repeated action – meeting new people)

6. References
 http://www.grammar.cl/english/past-tense.htm
 https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/quick-grammar/past-habit-used-
towouldpast-simple
 https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/used-would-always
 http://www.passporttoenglish.com/Advanced-English/Lesson2/Grammar.html