Would & Used To

Look at this sample situation:

Kate talking about her childhood summers:

When I was a child, we used to go to my grandparents' house every summer. They lived near the beach, and we would spend the whole day swimming and building sandcastles. My granddad would always tell us funny stories in the evening and we used to sit around the fire listening for hours.

You can see from these examples that used to works with both actions and states, while would works only with repeated actions and requires context.

Meaning

Would and used to are both used to talk about past habits or repeated actions.

They help you describe things you did regularly in the past, especially when you are comparing your past with the present. However, they are not exactly the same, and it’s important to understand how they work and when to use each one.

Structure

Used to

Affirmative

Used to + base verb

Negative

Subject + didn’t use to + base verb

Questions

Did + subject + use to + base verb?

Would

Affirmative

Would + base verb

Negative and Questions

These are rarely used for past habits. Instead, used to is preferred.

Note: The negative of used to is most commonly didn’t use to. Sometimes you might find this form: didn't used to. You may see or hear both forms, but many people consider the form with the final -d to be incorrect so you should not use it in exams.

The same applies to questions:

Didn’t she used to live in the same street as us? (Don’t use this form in written exams!)

In very formal styles, the negative form used not to might be used:

However, this form is not very common so you should avoid it.

Key Differences

Used to can be used to describe both repeated actions and past states. It can be used with or without a specific time reference. This makes it more flexible than would.

Would can only be used to describe repeated actions and only when the time reference is already clear. You cannot use would with state verbs like be or have when talking about past situations.

I used to live in London is correct but I would live in London sounds like a conditional sentence and is not correct as a description of a past state.

Every weekend, we would go hiking is fine because the time frame is clear. However, you cannot say We would have a dog to mean a past situation.

In the FCE exam

Reading and Use of English

You may find used to and would in part 4, key word transformations.

changes to:

becomes:

Note that in this second example, would is not be acceptable because live is a state verb.

In part 2 you may have to choose between used to and would based on the context of the sentence. If there is a time reference and the action was repeated, either form might be possible.

If the sentence describes a past state, only used to is correct. On the other hand, if the gap is not followed by to, the only suitable option is would. For instance:

I ........ play the guitar for hours must be completed with would.

Writing

In an essay, you might write:

Or if you are writing a restaurant review you could say:

Speaking

Examiners want to see a range of grammar and using would or used to is a great way of doing this. In part 1 you may be asked:

A great answer would be:

Now try these exercises!