Lesson 47

Used to do

Level: Pre-Intermediate

Lesson contents:

• Used to + verb see "Teachers" section on the right.
• Vocabulary: phrasal verb eat out, motherly duties, talkative, anymore, tomboy.
• As (adverb) as to say that two things are the same in some way (used in the negative in our case).

Always watch the video several times without subtitles first. Train your ears! Your pronunciation will be much better if you follow this simple rule.

Exercises for this lesson:

• She used to party a lot
• Her dad used to be a travelling salesman
• Tuna lasagna
• Eating out (at a restaaurant)
• Talkative vs Quiet
• She used to play the flute
• Karina & Richard
• Mike used to program
• As (adverb) as
• I used not to cook
• Pot
• Tomboy
• She used to teach English
• I am "he"

How to do the lessons:

1. Watch the video without subtitles.
2. Do all the Exercises.
3. Come back to this page.
4. Watch the video with English Subtitles. Use the Pause button. People speak fast!

Problems? See general support or ask your question here.

Used to do

Watch this video, then click on Exercise 1

Same video with Precise Subtitles

Teachers:

I have provided this general explanation for students:

Used to + verb is a special form of the past tense. As you will see in the video, it indicates something that you did in the past, but you do not do it now. You stopped doing it: you don't do it anymore.
Note that infinitives come after "used to". Example: We used to drink a lot.
Questions and negatives are made with "did" + use to (with no "d"): Did you use to work here?
Example: We didn’t use to work here.
Don't confuse this verb structure with "used to" for habitual actions. For example: "I am used to sitting in the back of the car."

Both the video and the exercises for this lesson worked out very well. In the beginning, we did not intend on making a "used to (verb)" lesson. However, we discovered that quite a few people were using this special form of the past while answering other questions, so we then included a question for our interviews which was designed to elicit this verb form in order to have enough material to make a complete video.

Seven of the people who speak in this video are from the south of England and London. Seven are Americans from several different cities.