Jerónimo's Lesson

Be used to - Used to - Would

Past tenses: simple, continuous and perfect

When I was little, I would get up and watch cartoons every Saturday morning. Now I rarely watch TV.

I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV.

Every night our mother would read us a bedtime story.

My brother used to collect seashells.

Used to vs. Would

• Both USED TO and WOULD are useful to talk about things we did regularly in the past.
• We don't use WOULD with stative verbs (past states or situations). 

• WOULD is used when we established a time period before.
• USED TO don't need a time period.

Stative verbs: describen un estado en vez de una acción. 

• Senses: appear, feel, hear, look, see, smell, sound, taste.
• Perception: believe, forget, know, understand.
• Feelings and emotions: desire, like, love, hate, prefer, want, enjoy.
• Other: have, need, agree, be, cost. 

I would ride my bike to school when I was small.

I would play with my toys / I would have a lot of toys.

Past tenses

He took the camera and his wallet and went out for a walk.

Cathy was happy because she had won the race.

This time last week we were standing on a volcano.

They went to Australia last

year.

The ferry had already left by the time we arrived at the port.

He has lived in Singapore for three years.

Simple

Continuous

• Past actions. Past actions in chronological order.
• An action which started and finished in the past.
• Actions which happened one after the other in the past.
• Stated time in the past.

• On going past action (often interrupted).
• Actions in progress at a stated time in the past.
• Two or more actions which were happening at the same time in the past.

Perfect

• Single actions completed earlier in the past.
• For an action which finished before another past action or before a stated time in the past.
• For an action which finished in the past and whose result was visible at a later point in the past.