The difference between USED TO and WOULD
What is the difference in the way of using "used to" and "would" to talk about regular
activities/habits/state in the past?
Answer
Used to and would are both use to describe something that happened regularly in
the...
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The difference between USED TO and WOULD
What is the difference in the way of using "used to" and "would" to talk about regular
activities/habits/state in the past?
Answer
Used to and would are both use to describe something that happened regularly in
the past but doesn't happen any longer, as shown in the following two sentences
about quitting smoking:
1. I used to smoke, but I quit last year.
2. Whenever I craved a cigarette, I would chew gum instead.
However, there are two important differences between used to and would. The
first difference is that would should not be used unless it has already been established
that the time frame is in the past, while used to does not require this. This example,
with used to at the beginning, sounds natural:
• I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I
rarely watch TV.
However, when used to is replaced with would, the same example becomes awkward
and ungrammatical:
• *I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning
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