English Grammar: Used To / Be Used To / Get used To 🤔

These structures can be difficult for English learners, because they look and sound similar.

MaryfunEnglish
4 min readSep 9, 2023
Photo by OSPAN ALI on Unsplash

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Although these forms seem similar, “used to + infinitive” and “be /get used to” have different usages and structures.

Used to + infinitive

The important thing to remember about the “used to + infinitive” form is that we ONLY use it to talk about the past, namely past habits and states.

These were things that we did regularly in the past, but NO LONGER do in the present. If you still do something in the present, this form CAN’T be used.

When I was a child, I used to play outside in the street (I don’t do this anymore in the present).

She used to smoke (she doesn’t smoke in the present).

“Used to + infinitive” can also be used to talk about past states.

He used to have a motorbike.

“Used to + infinitive” — negative and question forms

In the negative and question forms, we drop the final “d” in “used to”.

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