Talking About Past Habits and New Experiences

• When we talk about moving abroad, we often compare our past habits with our new life. We use 'used to' and 'would' for past habits, and 'be used to' or 'get used to' for things that are familiar or becoming familiar.
• Structure
• Meaning
• Example
• used to + verb
• A past habit or state that finished
• I used to live in Chicago.
• would + verb
• A repeated past action (not states)
• We would drink coffee every morning.
• be used to + -ing
• To be familiar with something
• She is used to driving on the left.
• get used to + -ing
• The process of becoming familiar
• Mark is getting used to the British weather.
• Remember
• Use 'used to' for both past actions and past states (like 'live', 'have', 'know').
• Use 'would' only for repeated past actions, never for states.
• Use 'be used to' with a noun, pronoun, or verb with -ing.
• Use 'get used to' to talk about the process of adapting to something new.
• Examples
• Brian used to work in New York before he moved to London.
• Every Sunday, we would walk through Central Park in New York.
• Are you used to the cold weather in Boston yet?
• It took me months to get used to driving in Los Angeles.
• Common mistakes
• I am use to living in Seattle.
• I am used to living in Seattle.
• She would have a big house in Dallas.
• She used to have a big house in Dallas.

Complete the sentences

• When I lived in Miami, I (go) ____ to the beach every weekend.
• Now that I live in London, I (get used to) ____ the rainy days.
• My brother (live) ____ in San Francisco before moving to Austin.
• When we visited our grandparents in Boston, we (would) ____ bake cookies together.
• Jessica is already (be used to) ____ drinking hot tea in the afternoon.
• It is hard to (get used to) ____ a completely new city after moving.

Sources: photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels