Hábitos del pasado
Los estudiantes a menudo encuentran que hablar sobre hábitos pasados
puede ser confuso. ¿Cómo puedes expresarte correctamente? ¿Qué puedes decir
para explicar que una acción repetida se detuvo en el pasado? Probemos y veamos
lo que necesitas recordar.
Used to
You can use this expression for past habits that are not true anymore.
We form this expression by using the words used to and adding the infinitive of
a verb (used to + infinitive). For example:
I used to watch Masterchef on TV every
weekend but now I don’t have time.
I used to eat lots of chips when I was
younger, but now I try to eat more healthily.
Would
We use would to talk about repeated actions in the past. To form this
structure, we place would before the infinitive of the main verb(s) used in the
sentence (would + infinitive), for example:
Every weekend I would play football with my
friends.
My mother would cook us dinner every night.
Most times, we can use would or used to without changing the meaning:
I would cook for my friends every weekend.
I used to cook for my friends every weekend.
We must, however, be careful about the type of verbs we want to use in
our sentence. If we are talking about states, which we express using verbs such
as be, feel, agree or believe, we DON’T use WOULD.
He used to be a cook at a local restaurant.
He would be a cook at a local restaurant.
I used to believe that my father was a spy.
I would believe that my father was a spy.
However, if you find these structures too confusing, you can always use
the past simple. We use the past simple in the same way as would and used to
when we want to talk about repeated actions in the past. For example:
Every weekend I cooked for my friends.
I played football with my friends every day.
Hábitos presentes
Cuando hablamos de hábitos presentes en inglés, usamos expresiones un
poco más largas con used to . Examinemos las variaciones a continuación.
Be used to
We use be used to when we talk about repeated actions in the present. The
structure is:
Be + used to + verb + ing OR be + used to + noun, for example:
Harry is used to eating fast food every day.
We are used to the school being cold.
We can also use be used to in the past, for example:
I was used to eating out a lot.
They were used to drinking every night.
Negative
We can use the negative before the verb ‘be’, for example:
I’m not used to all the noise from the
street.
He wasn’t used to standing up all day.
Get used to
We use get used to when we need to express that we are becoming
accustomed to something. The structure is:
Pronoun + get used to + verb + ing OR Pronoun + get used to + noun. For
example:
Jane is getting used to eating more healthily
after her visit to the nutritionist.
Kate is getting used to the baby’s needs.
We can also use ‘get used to’ in the past (as past habits), for example:
I got used to eating more vegetables.
We got used to his snoring.
Be accustomed to/ Get accustomed to
We use this structure in the same way as ‘am used to’ /’get used to’,
and it has the same meaning. The structure is:
Be accustomed to/get accustomed to + verb + ing OR be accustomed to +
noun.
For example:
I am accustomed to eating only organic food.
I am getting accustomed to his strange
behaviour.
