Άρθρα με ετικέτα used to

Past Habits and States with used to and would

 Juvenile - Illustration - Children's gardening 1 - small

Here’s an excerpt from a well known short story for kids:

The Selfish Giant, Oscar Wilde

“Every afternoon, as they were coming from school, the children used to go and play in the Giant’s garden. It was a large lovely garden, with soft green grass. Here and there over the grass stood beautiful flowers like stars, and there were twelve peach-trees that in the spring-time broke out into delicate blossoms of pink and pearl, and in the autumn bore rich fruit. The birds sat on the trees and sang so sweetly that the children used to stop their games in order to listen to them. ‘How happy we are here!’ they cried to each other.”

Listen to the rest of this story that speaks of sharing, companionship and selflessness. (scroll down the page a bit to the stream audiobox, choose the story and click on play )  

Do you recognize the function of the highlighted syntax?

FUNCTION

We use USED TO to talk about things in the past which we don’t do now or are not happening now and they were past habits or states or repeated actions.

  • We used to live downtown but we moved to the suburbs a few years ago.
  • I used to play football every afternoon when I was at school.
  • There didn’t use to be a supermarket here.
  • Did you use to watch “Thundercats” when you were a child?

We also use WOULD about situations in the past, which are finished now. However, we use WOULD about actions or situations which happened again and again. WOULD cannot be used about past states.

  • The children would go and play in the Giant’s garden every afternoon.
  • They would stop their games in order to listen to the birds.
  • ·        They would be very happy.    

FORM

(affirmative)                    subject             +                used  +  to  +  infinitive

(interrogative)    did  +  subject             +                 use  +  to  +  infinitive ?

(negative)                        subject  +  did  +  not   +   use  +  to  +  infinitive

PRACTICE

Look at these relevant pages here and here

 

photo by  http://vintageprintable.com , portions of Vintage Printable by Vintage Printable/Swivelchair Media, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. 

 

Used to by Chris Daughtry

Used to, Chris Daughtry 

You used to __________ to me like I was the only one around
You used to __________ on me, the only other choice was falling down
You used to___________with me like we had no where we needed to go
Nice and slow, to no place in particular

CHORUS

We used to __________ this figured out, we used to__________ without a doubt
The nights were __________ for the first time that I’d see
We used to ___________ this under control, we never thought we used to know
At least there’s you and at least there’s me
Can we get this back? Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I used to ___________ for you and I got lost along the way
I used to ___________, you always had the just right thing to say

I used to ___________ you, never really cared where we would go
Fast or slow, to _____________ at all

CHORUS

I _________around me and I want you to be there
‘Cause I miss the things that we ___________
Look around you, it’s ___________ and you’re sad
‘Cause you ___________ the love that we had

You used to __________ to me like I was the only one around
The only one around

CHORUS

Yeah, to how it used to be, to how it used to be
Yeah, to how it used to be, to how it used to be

Songwriters
Christopher Daughtry;Zachary David Maloy;Howard Benson

 

QUESTIONS FOR THOUGHT

  1. Who do you think is “you” in the song? Why?
  2. What things did the singer use to do in the past?
  3. How did the singer use to feel in the past?
  4. What has changed now?
  5. Are there any moments in your life that you say : “Can we get this back to how it used to be?” 

 

FULL SONG HERE

You used to talk to me like I was the only one around
You used to lean on me, the only other choice was falling down
You used to walk with me like we had no where we needed to go
Nice and slow, to no place in particular

We used to have this figured out, we used to breathe without a doubt
The nights were clearer for the first time that I’d see
We used to have this under control, we never thought we used to know
At least there’s you and at least there’s me
Can we get this back? Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I used to reach for you and I got lost along the way
I used to listen, you always had the just right thing to say

I used to follow you, never really cared where we would go
Fast or slow, to anywhere at all

We used to have this figured out, we used to breathe without a doubt
The nights were clearer for the first time that I’d see
We used to have this under control, we never thought we used to know
At least there’s you and at least there’s me
Can we get this back? Can we get this back to how it used to be?

I look around me and I want you to be there
‘Cause I miss the things that we shared
Look around you, it’s empty and you’re sad
‘Cause you miss the love that we had

You used to talk to me like I was the only one around
The only one around

We used to have this figured out, we used to breathe without a doubt
The nights were clearer for the first time that I’d see
We used to have this under control, we never thought we used to know
At least there’s you and at least there’s me
Can we get this back? Can we get this back to how it used to be?
Yeah, to how it used to be, to how it used to be
Yeah, to how it used to be, to how it used to be

Past Tenses, Used to and Would practice

To do the exercises, click on the pictures. There is a description for every exercise next to the picture.

1) 

girl-with-rosesa) sentence word order                          girl-with-rosesb) used to/ past simple/ past continuous

                 by ESL Athabasca University under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License 

2) 

boy-reading a) all functions of WOULD                        by  http://www.englishclub.com

3)

boy-readinga) True/False reading comprehension