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    Would Vs Used To

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    Diego Monsalve
    This document provides guidance on using "used to" versus "would" to talk about past habitual actions and long-term states. "Used to" is used to talk about recurring actions and long-term states in the past, while "would" is used to talk about recurring actions in the past, but not states. "Would" plus the infinitive can also be used to talk about habitual actions when telling a story in the past. Several examples are given to illustrate the proper usage of "used to" versus "would" in different contexts.

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    Would Vs Used To

    Uploaded by

    Diego Monsalve
    65 views21 pages
    This document provides guidance on using "used to" versus "would" to talk about past habitual actions and long-term states. "Used to" is used to talk about recurring actions and long-term states in the past, while "would" is used to talk about recurring actions in the past, but not states. "Would" plus the infinitive can also be used to talk about habitual actions when telling a story in the past. Several examples are given to illustrate the proper usage of "used to" versus "would" in different contexts.

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    This document provides guidance on using "used to" versus "would" to talk about past habitual actions and long-term states. "Used to" is used to talk about recurring actions and long-term states in the past, while "would" is used to talk about recurring actions in the past, but not states. "Would" plus the infinitive can also be used to talk about habitual actions when telling a story in the past. Several examples are given to illustrate the proper usage of "used to" versus "would" in different contexts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    65 views21 pages

    Would Vs Used To

    Uploaded by

    Diego Monsalve
    This document provides guidance on using "used to" versus "would" to talk about past habitual actions and long-term states. "Used to" is used to talk about recurring actions and long-term states in the past, while "would" is used to talk about recurring actions in the past, but not states. "Would" plus the infinitive can also be used to talk about habitual actions when telling a story in the past. Several examples are given to illustrate the proper usage of "used to" versus "would" in different contexts.

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    Usa ¨used to + verbo¨ para hablar sobre


    acciones recurrentes y para estados a largo
    plazo en el pasado. I used to want to live in a big
    city, but not anymore.

    Usa ¨would + verbo¨ para hablar sobre


    acciones recurrentes en el pasado (NO para
    estados). I would fight a lot with my sister when
    we were young, but now we’re good friends.
    'Would + infinitive'

    We can also use 'would + infinitive' to talk about a habit or repeated action in the past. We
    usually use 'would + infinitive' in this way when we're telling a story about the past. So, we
    can say:

    When I was a student, we would often have a drink after class on a Friday.
    When I lived in Italy, we would go to a little restaurant near our house.

    However, we don't use 'would + infinitive' to talk about states in the past. So, if
    we're talking about the past, we CAN'T say:

    I would have long hair.


    I would live in Scotland.
    Used to vs. Would

    Miremos unos ejemplos de acciones o estados recurrentes en el pasado:

    When I was a child, my family and I used to travel to Italy every summer. -> Acción
    recurrente en el pasado
    When I was a child, my family and I would travel to Italy every summer. -> Acción
    recurrente en el pasado

    (Cuando era niño, mi familia y yo viajábamos cada verano a Italia.)


    We used to live in Spain, but then we moved to the United States. -> Estado a largo
    plazo
    We would live in Spain, but then we moved to the United States.
    (Antes vivíamos en España, pero después nos mudamos a los Estados Unidos.)

    My company used to only prefer hiring part-time workers. -> Estado a largo plazo
    My company would only prefer hiring part-time workers.
    (Antes mi empresa solamente contrataba trabajadores a jornada parcial.)
    Here's the first example again:

    "I used to live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."

    Can we use 'would' instead of 'used to' here?

    No, we can't, because 'living in Manchester' wasn't repeated again and again and again. It's
    simply a situation in the past. Therefore, only 'used to' is good in this sentence.

    The second example again:

    " When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."


    Here, we're talking about 'playing football every Saturday’.

    This is an action that was repeated many times, so we can also say:

    "When he was at school, he would play football every Saturday". 'Used to' and 'would' are
    both good here, and the meaning is the same
    Finally, the third example again:

    "She used to hate her job until she got a


    promotion."

    Did she 'hate her job' many times?

    No, this isn't a repeated action, so in this example


    'would' isn't possible. We have to use 'used to'.
    Look at the following sentences, decide if we can only use “used
    to” or if “would” is also possible.

    1. When I lived in Japan I would/used to eat sushi every day.


    2. When I was at school we used to/would play hopscotch in the
    playground.
    3. When I was a kid I didn’t use to/wouldn’t like olives.
    4. My dad used to/would have a big green land rover.
    5. He used to/would drive it through the forest on bumpy tracks.
    6. When I was a teenager I used to/would love heavy metal
    music, now it’s too loud for me.
    Reading

    I got my first job when I was 12 years old. I worked as a paperboy


    delivering newspapers to people in my village every morning. I used
    to get up very early and deliver the papers to half of the village while
    my friend Ben would deliver to the other half. I used to love seeing
    the empty streets of the village before anyone got up, but I used to
    hate the job on rainy days. I would sometimes ride my bike to get the
    job done faster. Ben was luckier than me, sometimes if he couldn’t be
    bothered to do his paper round, his Dad would drive him around his
    route in his car!

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