FluencyLab
GrammarHub
Use used to + base verb for repeated past actions or past states that were true before but are not true now.
Overview
Use used to + base verb for repeated past actions or past states that were true before but are not true now.
Form and rules
Use used to + base verb for repeated past actions: We used to play outside every day.
Use it for past states too: She used to live in Rio.
The structure normally creates a contrast between then and now.
In negatives, the most common modern form is didn't use to + base verb because did already carries the past tense.
In questions, use Did + subject + use to + base verb?: Did you use to walk to school?
A closer look
In negatives, the most common modern form is didn't use to + base verb because did already carries the past tense.
In questions, use Did + subject + use to + base verb?: Did you use to walk to school?
Examples
I used to have long hair.
We used to visit my grandparents every summer.
He didn't use to like coffee.
Did you use to live here?
There used to be a cinema on this street.
Common mistakes
A repeated past habit that no longer happens uses used to.
After didn't, use the base form use.
Ready to practise?
The test combines multiple choice, gap completion, error correction, and sentence building so students have to recognise and produce the grammar, not simply reread the rule.