Used to

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Summary

Use ‘used to’ to describe an action that happened regularly or occasionally in the past, but which does not happen now.

For example: "We used to order pizza every Friday night."

How to use it

"Used to" is used with something that happened regularly (like a habit), not something that happened once.

It also means that the habit is no longer happening.

For example:

• One-time action: We ordered pizza last Friday night
• Habit from the past: We used to order pizza every Friday night (but we don't anymore)

How to form it

To describe a habit from the past, insert "Used to" before the infinitive of a verb, like this:

• [Subject] +
• used to +
• [infinitive of verb] + the rest of the sentence

In our example from above, it looks like this:

• We
• used to
• order pizza every Friday night.

Examples

• They used to visit their grandparents every summer when they were kids.
• The power used to go out after severe storms.
• I used to buy coffee every morning on my way into the office.
• The kitchen inspectors used to always warn us that they were coming. Now, they surprise us.
• I used to watch re-runs of my favorite sitcoms.

Pronunciation

Speakers say "used to" very quickly, almost like it's one word. They also drop the "d" so that it sounds like "Use-to," all in one word.