Used to/Be used to

used to + infinitive

Meaning

The structure used to + infinitive talks about:

• repeated past habits and actions that we no longer do. Compare:
  

  Examples:

  When I was a child, I used to go to Disneyland.

  I was there often – used to shows us that this was a repeated action in the past.

  When I was a child, I went to Disneyland.

  I was there once.

• states or circumstances that are no longer the same as before
  

  Example:

  My English used to be terrible.

  My English wasn’t very good for a long time, but now it is better.

The structure used to does not express one-time actions nor can we use it with concrete past time markers (yesterday, last month, last week …).

To say when exactly something happened or to talk about a one-time occurrence, we use the simple past.

Example:

I moved to the UK last year.

not: I used to move to the UK last year.

Form

We drop the -d at the end of used when we form negatives and questions: didn’t use to and did … use to.

Example:

I didn’t use to speak English before I lived here.

Did you use to live in an apartment before this house?

Note: you will hear both didn’t used to and did ... used to (i.e. with a -d at the end) in spoken English, however this is considered incorrect and should not be used in written English or in exams.

We often use never to form negatives:

Example:

My English never used to be very good.

We usually put adverbs before used to:

Example:

I always used to struggle with the local accents.

would for past habits

We can also use would + infinitive to express past habits. It has the same meaning as used to, but is considered slightly more formal.

Example:

Every summer we would go to Disneyland. = Every summer we used to go to Disneyland.

Note: used to and would for past habits are not always interchangeable:

• Would + infinitive only expresses past habits, not past states. This means it’s typically used with action verbs, not stative verbs.
  Used to can be used with all types of verbs.

Examples:

We would play football in the garden. (action verb)

I used to love football. (stative verb)

but not: I would love football.

• Would + infinitive always appears with an establishing past time marker (every summer, when I was younger …)
  Used to can stand alone.

Examples:

When I was a teenager I would dye my hair crazy colours.

I used to dye my hair crazy colours.

but not: I would dye my hair

• We don’t use would + infinitive in the negative or question forms to refer to past habits.
  Used to appears in all forms.

Example:

Did you use to work here?

not: Would you work here?

get used to, be used to + noun/gerund

Meaning

The structures get used to and be used to indicate familiarity with something.

Get used to signals that something is in the process of going from difficult/new to easy/familiar.

Example:

I am even getting used to having milk in my tea!

Drinking tea with milk is becoming more normal for me.

Be used to indicates that this process is completed; the speaker is fully accustomed to and familiar with the new thing or habit.

Example:

I’m used to speaking English every day.

This is normal for me.

Form

Unlike used to + infinitive, get used to and be used to can be conjugated in any tense.

Examples:

I am even getting used to having milk in my tea! (present progressive)

You will get used to it. (future)

I got used to speaking English fairly quickly. (past simple)

These two structures can be followed by a noun, pronoun or gerund (the -ing form of the verb).

Examples:

I’m even getting used to having milk in my tea. (gerund)

You get used to it. (pronoun)

I am used to the British lifestyle. (noun)