Past habits: 'used to', 'would' and the past simple

Do you know how to talk about past habits using used to, would and the past simple? Test what you know with interactive exercises and read the explanation to help you.

Look at these examples to see how used to, would and the past simple are used.

They used to live in London.
I didn't use to like olives.
We would always go to the seaside for our holidays.
But one holiday we went to the mountains instead.

Try this exercise to test your grammar.

Grammar test 1: Past habits: Grammar test 1

Grammar explanation

When we talk about things in the past that are not true any more, we can do it in different ways.

Used to + infinitive

We can use used to to talk about past states that are not true any more.

We used to live in New York when I was a kid.
There didn't use to be a supermarket there. When did it open?
Did you use to have a garden?

We can also use used to to talk about past habits (repeated past actions) that don't happen any more.

I used to go swimming every Thursday when I was at school.
She used to smoke but she gave up a few years ago.

used to + infinitive should not be confused with be/get used to + -ing, which has a different meaning. The difference is covered here.

Would

We can use would to talk about repeated past actions that don't happen any more.

Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
My dad would read me amazing stories every night at bedtime.

would for past habits is slightly more formal than used to. It is often used in stories. We don't normally use the negative or question form of would for past habits. Note that we can't usually use would to talk about past states.

Past simple

We can always use the past simple as an alternative to used to or would to talk about past states or habits. The main difference is that the past simple doesn't emphasise the repeated or continuous nature of the action or situation. Also, the past simple doesn't make it so clear that the thing is no longer true.

We went to the same beach every summer.
We used to go to the same beach every summer.
We would go to the same beach every summer.

If something happened only once, we must use the past simple.

I went to Egypt in 2014.

Do this exercise to test your grammar again.

Grammar test 2: Past habits: Grammar test 2

Try another grammar lesson

Language level

B2 Upper intermediate

Hello,
I have difficulty in choosing the appropriate words for these two sentences:
1. That athlete __________ (have) difficulties getting picked for the team.
2. He __________ (work) as a journalist for a science magazine.
Could I use both "used to" and "would" to fill in? Are there any differences in their meanings?
Thanks in advance
Regards.

Hello Thu3009,

There are multiple answers possible for both sentences, so unless the rubric specifies 'used to' or 'would' then you could use present tenses, past tenses and so on. The context is very vague.

If we limit ourselves to 'used to' and 'would' with past meaning, then in both sentences only 'used to' is possible since 'have' and 'work for' are not actions but rather descriptions of states. Note that 'work for' here means 'have a job with' rather than 'do a task'.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello,
1. It is said that would in this case is not often used in negative form (with not). But in this web site from oxford, there is number 2 whose answer is still wouldn't (not didn't use to). https://elt.oup.com/student/solutions/upperint/grammar/grammar_02_012e?cc=vn&selLanguage=vi
May I ask the reason?
2. One more, Is possible when the adverbs such as always, usually, often (as above) ... go with used to. i.e:
I used to always go for a walk after school. Now I'm too busy to do so.
Thank you very much.

Hello It's Phoebe,

The explanation says that we don't normally use the negative form of would to describe past habits and this is true. It doesn't say that we never use it, so of course you can find examples where it is used. However, they are relatively uncommon. As far as the OUP material goes, I can't comment on the purpose of the task - perhaps there were specific instructions about what forms to use. For example, sometimes there is an instruction to use a certain form wherever it is possible. What I can say is that in that particular question the other answer is incorrect because it has 'didn't used' instead of 'didn't use'. That tells you something: that in order to make you use 'wouldn't' the task needs to make the second answer impossible as otherwise you would probably feel that 'used to' is a more natural-sounding option.
Yes, that's possible. However, putting the adverb before 'used to' is more common: I always used to....

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello,

May I know the difference between 'used to' and 'would'. Do they both show repeated actions in the past?

We used to go to the same beach every summer.

We would go to the same beach every summer.

Are these sentences have the same meaning?

Hello Aung Qui,

Both structures describe repeated/typical past habits and behaviour which is no longer true. The difference is that 'used to' can describe both actions (things we do) and states (things we are, such as how we feel, who we are or what we think) whereas 'would' is only used for actions. For example:

work on a farm in the summer is a repeated action so we can use both forms:

As a student, in the summer I would work on a farm for some extra cash.

As a student, in the summer I used to work on a farm for some extra cash.

be angry when my boss asked me to work at the weekend is a state so we can only use 'used to':

I used to get angry when my boss asked me to work at the weekend.

In your examples 'go' is an action so both forms are possible.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello again,

Could I ask this too?

She used to smoke but she gave up a few years ago.

She would smoke but she gave up a few years ago.

Are these two sentences correct?

Thank you for your marvellous work!

Hello again Aung Qui,

The sentence with used to is fine but the sentence with would needs a little addition.

Remember that we use would for typical and expected behaviour rather than something which simply was true and no longer is. This means activities we describe with would happen in a certain time frame or at certain moments. Your sentence needs a phrase providing this. For example:

She would smoke whenever she was stressed but she gave up a few years ago.
She would smoke in the mornings but she gave up a few years ago.
She would smoke at work so she could take breaks during the day but she gave up a few years ago.

Peter

The LearnEnglish Team

Hello,

Can anyone justify the correct choice in "But Dad ___ angry because he had done the same when he was a kid." in Grammar test 1? I would select "wouldn't get" (as a repeated (re)action) but "didn't use to get" is the correct answer.

Thanks in advance

Regards