'used to' and 'would'

So confusing!!! Let's look at this a little more carefully.

Past habit – used to/would/past simple
When we talk about things that happened in the past but don’t happen anymore we can do it in different ways.

Used to
• We used to live in New York when I was a kid.
• There didn’t use to be a petrol station there. When was it built?
We can use ‘used to’ to talk about past states ….
• I used to go swimming every Thursday when I was at school.
• I used to smoke but I gave up a few years ago.
… or we can use ‘used to’ to talk about repeated past actions

Remember that ‘used to’ is only for past states/actions that don’t happen now – we can’t use it for things that still happen now. Also, ‘used to + infinitive’ should not be confused with ‘be/get used to + ‘ing’ form’ – this is covered in a separate section.

Would
• Every Saturday I would go on a long bike ride.
• My teachers would always say “Sit down and shut up!”
We can use ‘would’ to talk about repeated past actions.

Often either ‘would’ or ‘used to’ is possible. Both of these sentences are possible.
• Every Saturday, I would go on a long bike ride.
• Every Saturday I used to go on a long bike ride.
However, only ‘used to’ is possible when we talk about past states.
• We used to live in New York when I was a kid.
• We would live in New York when I was a kid.
Past simple
• We went/used to go/would go to the same beach every summer.
We can use the past simple in the same way as ‘used to’ and ‘would’ to talk about repeated past actions.
• I had/used to have a dog called Charlie.
We can also use the past simple for past states.
• I went to Egypt in 1988.
However, if something happened only once we can’t use ‘used to’ or ‘would’ – we must use the past simple.

Some of the sentences below contain common verb form mistakes. Find the sentences with errors and correct them using either "Simple Past," "Used to" or "Would Always."
EXAMPLE:
used to
A) I would always be unhealthy as a child.


1. When I was a child, I rode my bike everyday.

2. She would always be beautiful when she was young.

3. I used to go to the beach yesterday.

4. Margie loves horses because she used to have one as a child.

5. James would always have a very important test last week.

6. Jerry always used to cook dinner for himself, but now his wife prepares dinner.

7. Jamie would always have a dog when she was a child, but now she has a cat.

8. Laura would always bake cookies for us when we were kids.

9. I used to graduate from Georgetown University in 1992.

10. He would constantly embarrass himself by asking stupid questions in class.

11. They would spend Easter with us every year until we moved.

12. They used to spend Easter with us every year until we moved.

13. They spent Easter with us every year until we moved.

14. I used to be fat, but I lost a lot of weight in high school.

15. I would always be fat, but I lost a lot of weight in high school.