English B1 · used to
Bahasa Inggris B1 Topik 4 4:20 Narasi bahasa Inggris · Subtitle bahasa Inggris + 中文 disematkan langsung
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Some past habits are gone forever, and English has a form for exactly that: used to plus the base verb, for past habits and states that are no longer true. I used to play football every day: then, every day; now, not any more. She used to be shy: a past state, now gone. Chinese does this with yiqian or cengjing; English changes the verb form instead. The memory hook: used to is a museum label. This habit lived here; it doesn't any more.
The forms. Statement: used to plus the base verb; I used to play football. Negative: didn't use to; question: did you use to live here. Notice the vanishing d: after did, the d disappears, because did eats it — the same appetite as always. Speech often keeps the d anyway, but write the exam's way: didn't use to. And there is no present form: I use to play football every day, meaning now, is just the present simple in a costume. The museum is for old exhibits only.
Pause and choose. Did you use to play the piano? Did already ate the d, so use. Used after did double-marks the past, and the other two forms belong to different tenses that were not invited.
Would can also describe past habits, but only actions, never states. I used to play football and we would cycle to the river are both fine for actions. But a state takes used to only: I used to be shy, never I would be shy. And would sounds literary, like the start of a story: every summer, we would cycle to the river, and the river would win.
Pause and choose. I used to have a bike when I was ten. A state, so used to; would carries actions only, and states refuse it. I would have a bike means something else entirely — a wish or a condition, which is B2's department.
Three families share the same words. Used to plus base verb: a past habit, now gone; I used to drink milk. Be used to plus ing: accustomed now; I am used to getting up early. Get used to plus ing: the process of becoming accustomed; I'm getting used to the new school. In be used to, the to is a preposition, so the verb takes ing: never I am used to get up early. Same characters' neighbourhood, different grammar planet.
Pause and choose. I'm used to getting up early. After be used to, the to is a preposition, so the verb takes ing. Get would mix the museum with the present, and the sentence would not know which decade it lives in.
One last boundary: the museum labels habits, not accidents. I used to break my arm last year is impossible; one event, one break, one past simple: I broke my arm last year. If it happened once, it belongs to the past simple. If it happened every week for years and then stopped, it belongs to used to. The museum checks the frequency at the door.
Open your personal museum. I used to believe the homework would do itself; I was young and hopeful. I didn't use to like vegetables; now I'm used to eating them; growth is real. Every summer, we would cycle to the river, and the river would win. Then the interview: did you use to have a pet? Yes, I did; a goldfish; we used to understand each other.
Pause for four checks. I used to play football every day: a past habit, gone. She used to be shy: a state, and would cannot carry states. Did you use to live here: did ate the d. And I'm used to getting up early: the preposition to takes ing. Next topic: the future forms review, where all the doors stand in one corridor.