Speaking about the past

1. Reallanguage.com.mx
Used to and Would
Used to Would
Native Americans usedto make their own shoes
out of deerskin.(Now,most don’t.)
They didn’tuse to buy theirshoes at a store.
(Now,most of them do.)
Did you use to take music lessons?
WhenearlyIndian hunters wantedto hunt
ducks, they wouldmake duck decoys- artificial
ducks to attract the real ones.
Wouldpeople buyor make theireveryday
tools?
NOTES:
1. We use usedto (or didn’tuse to) to talk about past situationsor habitual actions in the past that
are not true now.
2. In negative statementsand questionswith used to, the auxiliary verb didor didn’tshows the
past tense and use is in the base form. (There is no significantdifference inthe pronunciationof
usedto and use to.)
3. We sometimesuse wouldin the same way.
4. We usuallydon’t use the negative wouldn’tin thisway.
Native Americans usedtomake theirownshoesout
of deerskin.