How do I talk about the past with "used to" and "would"? #EnglishHelp

Meet Grace. When she was 10 years old, she sang a lot. But now, she doesn't.

How do you explain this situation?

She used to sing a lot?

or

She would sing a lot?

or

both?

Stay calm, and let's figure it out together!

1. We use "used to" to talk about a habit that happened regularly in the past, but no longer happens.

   E.g. I used to play tennis a lot, but I don't play often now.

   

2. "Used to" is always used in the past. You can't remove the -ed ending in a positive statement.

   I used to swim every weekend. ✅

   I use to swim every weekend. ❌

3. The verb form after "used to" is the base form (the form without any tense). Check out more examples of the base form.

   She used to buy milk on weekends. ⬅️

   They used to read books together. ⬅️

1. Like "used to", we can also use "would" to talk about a habit that happened regularly in the past, but no longer happens.

   Compare these two sentences. They mean the same thing:

   I used to play tennis a lot, but I don't play often now. ✅

   I would play tennis a lot, but I don't play often now. ✅

2. The verb after "would" is also in the base form.

   We would lie on the beach all day during the summer. ⬅️

   She would never hurt me, even when she had bad days. ⬅️

Wait a minute. Does that mean I can use "used to" and "would" the same way?

The answer is yes and no.

Although "used to" and "would" are both used to talk about past actions, they're different in some ways.

Used to

1. Can be used with both stative verbs (such as feel, belong) and action verbs (such as run, write).

   E.g.

   I used to feel nervous before exams. ✅

   I used to run 10 kilometers on Saturdays. ✅

   

2. Less formal than "would", and can be used in all forms.

   E.g.

   I used to run 10 kilometers on Saturdays. ✅

   I didn't use to run 10 kilometers on Saturdays. ✅

   Did I use to run 10 kilometers on Saturdays? ✅

Would

1. Can be used with action verbs, but NOT with stative verbs.

   E.g.

   I would feel nervous before exams. ❌

   I would run 10 kilometers on Saturdays. ✅

   

2. More formal than "used to", and often used in storytelling in a positive form.

   E.g.

   I would run 10 kilometers on Saturdays when the weather was good. ✅

You're ready to talk about past habits! In the next few minutes: