Used to

Used to do
We use 'used to' for something that happened regularly in the past but no longer
happens.
I used to smoke a packet a day but I stopped two years ago.
Ben used to travel a lot in his job but now, since his promotion, he doesn't.
I used to drive to work but now I take the bus.
We also use it for something that was true but no longer is.
There used to be a cinema in the town but now there isn't.
She used to have really long hair but she's had it all cut off.
I didn't use to like him but now I do.
'Used to do' is different from 'to be used to doing' and 'to get used to doing'
to be used to doing
We use 'to be used to doing' to say that something is normal, not unusual.
I'm used to living on my own. I've done it for quite a long time.
Hans has lived in England for over a year so he is used to driving on the left
now.
They've always lived in hot countries so they aren't used to the cold weather
here.
to get used to doing
We use 'to get used to doing' to talk about the process of something becoming
normal for us.
I didn't understand the accent when I first moved here but I quickly got used to
it.
She has started working nights and is still getting used to sleeping during the
day.
I have always lived in the country but now I'm beginning to get used to living in
the city.

EXERCISE USED TO
Use used to plus a suitable verb to complete these sentences.
1. He _____ online to find the information he wanted.
He used to go online to find the information he wanted.
2. My sister _____ to school by bus but now she cycles.
3. I _____ thinner than my brother but now I am not.
4. My father _____ many cigarettes a day. He gave up smoking last year.
5. She _____ night after night for her degree in Economics.
6. They _____ football when they were younger.
7. I _____ the world was flat but now I realize its not true.
8. That building is now a cinema. It _____ a hotel.
9. When you lived near that shopping centre, _____ you _____ there very often?
10. _____ a lot of sweets when you were a child?
There are 11 mistakes in this letter, please find and correct them all.
To Dan,
Hey Dan, how is you? Im really good, I enjoying London. It is a very interested city.
There are so much to do. What have you doing? Do you have some news for me?
I had a great weekend, at Friday I went to Oxford Street and did some shopping with
my friends. On Saturday I went to Liverpool street, there are a cool market there. I
buyed some clothes. I had a rest on Sunday, I was so tired.
You have to come and visit me soon, you will loving London. I will show you all of the
sights, Big Ben, the London Eye and best of all, the pubs. There is a lot of great pubs
here in London.
Anyway, I have to go now, write back soon.
Best wishes, David
This story has lots of mistakes. There are 33 verbs in the wrong tense! Can
you find them all:
It's all in the past
I wake up yesterday morning and I get out of bed. It is a beautiful day. The sun was
shining and the wind was blowing. I decide that I would go for a walk. I start by walking
down my road. I push open my gate and close it behind me. I walk for miles and miles
along a country road. I even visit my aunt. Along the way I pass a young man selling
fruit. How much are the apples? I ask. 1 for a bag, he say. I pay the man and I
continue to walk. I eat all of the apples except for one, which I drop on the ground, they
are delicious.
After a while I meet another man, this man have a camel. The camel was a special
camel, it have no humps. What is his name? I ask the man. His name is Humphree,
say the man.
I walk for a very long time, soon the sun begin to go down. It is beautiful, I love
sunsets. I get home at about 12:30. I is very tired, normally I go to bed at 10:00. I put
on my pyjamas, rub my hands together and went straight to bed. As soon as my head
hit the pillow I fall asleep. That is the best walk of my life, I love it. The next day I call
my mother and tell her all about it.

Take a look at these 7 sentences. How many of them have mistakes? Can you
find the mistakes and do you know the reasons why?

1. "I've ever been to France. I really want to go in the future."

2. "An unicycle only has one wheel."
3. "Have everyone finished eating?"
4. "Can I lend your newspaper while you go for lunch?"
5. "We should have swam when the weather was better."
6. "All the people on my course were very kindly."
7. "You shouldn't smoking. It's not good for you."
To Dan,
Hey Dan, how are you? Im really good, I am enjoying London. It is a very
interesting city. There is so much to do. What have you been doing? Do you
have any news for me?
I had a great weekend, on Friday I went to Oxford Street and did some shopping with
my friends. On Saturday I went to Liverpool Street, there is a cool market there.
I bought some clothes. I had a rest on Sunday, I was so tired.
You have to come and visit me soon, you will love London. I will show you all of the
sights, Big Ben, the London Eye and best of all, the pubs. There are a lot of great pubs
here in London.
Anyway, I have to go now, write back soon.
Best wishes, David
I woke up yesterday morning and I got out of bed. It was a beautiful day. The sun was
shining and the wind was blowing. I decided that I would go for a walk. I started by
walking down my road. I pushed open my gate and closed it behind me. I walked for
miles and miles along a country road. I even visited my aunt. Along the way I passed a
young man selling fruit. How much are the apples? I asked. 1 for a bag, he said.
I paid the man and I continued to walk. I ate all of the apples except for one, which
I dropped on the ground, they were delicious.
After a while I met another man, this man had a camel. The camel was a special camel,
it had no humps. What is his name? I asked the man. His name is Humphree, said the
man.
I walked for a very long time, soon the sun began to go down. It was beautiful, I love
sunsets. I got home at about 12:30. I was very tired, normally I go to bed at 10:00. I
put on my pajamas, rubbed my hands together and went straight to bed. As soon as my
head hit the pillow I fell asleep. That was the best walk of my life, I loved it. The next
day I called my mother and told her all about it.

1. Ever should be changed to never: "I've never been to France". Ever is only used
in questions "Have you ever been to France."
2. Although unicycle starts with a vowel, it is pronounced as y and so we must say "a
unicycle". The same rule applies with "a university".
3. Everyone is always singular and needs a singular verb: "Has everyone finished
eating?"
4. Lend means to give for a short time. In this sentence the speaker should use
borrow: "Can I borrow your newspaper...".
5. Should have + past participle is the rule: "We should have swum", not
swam (past simple).
6. Kindly is an adverb and is a mistake because an adjective is needed: "...were very
kind".
7. The base verb is required here: smoke. We don't use modal verbs ("should")
with -ing verbs.
 How well do you know the finer points of grammar?
1. The present perfect tense is used to:
Talk about finished actions in the past.
Talk about actions in the past that have a present result.
2. Superlatives always have the word ___ before them.
The As
3. Regular verbs in the past simple tense always end with:
ed ing
4. Phrasal verbs and made by combining a verb and a:
Pronoun Preposition
5. Comparatives are always followed by the word:
Than As
6. The past continuous tense talks about:
An action in the past that interrupts a longer action.
A long action in the past that was interrupted by a shorter action
7. Some verbs e.g. agree, ask, promise, forget are always followed by the:
Gerund Infinitive

8. Be, have and do, are all examples of:

Auxiliary verbs Modal verbs

9. Indirect question are used when the speaker wants to be:

Direct and straight to the point Very polite

10. 'Rice' is an example of:

A countable noun An uncountable noun