Past Habit
- The simple past tense is used to talk about completed actions or states in the past. Example: 'I played tennis when I was young.'
- "Used to" is usually used to talk about past habits that have changed in the present. Example: 'I used to play the piano, but I don't anymore.'
- The structure for simple past tense is 'Subject + Past simple verb + Object'.
- The structure for 'used to' is 'Subject + "used to" + Base form of verb'.
This blog post is about expressing past habits or actions that are no longer true in the present. We often use two special forms to talk about these - the simple past tense or the term "used to".
Simple Past
The simple past tense is used to talk about a completed action or state that was in the past. For example, "I lived in London." This sentence means that you don't live in London now. The structure for simple past tense is Subject + Past simple verb + Object.
You can also use simple past to talk about past habit. A past habit is what you did often in the past but not now.
Examples:
-
I played tennis when I was young.
(This is a past habit. You don't play tennis now.)
-
She studied French in school.
Subject ("She") + verb in past tense ("studied") + object ("French")
"Used To"
Another way to talk about past habits or states is with the phrase "used to". The structure is Subject + "used to" + base form of verb. "Used to" is usually used to talk about past habits that have changed in the present.
Examples:
-
I used to play the piano, but I don't anymore.
(I played piano before. I don't play piano now.)
-
She used to live in Paris, now she lives in Rome.
(She lived in Paris before. She doesn't live in Paris now.)
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