Grammar

USED TO / BE USED TO:
How can I write "Solía, suelo, sueles tú.., Estoy acostumbrado a..." etc...? The answer on this page:
Taken from: www.englishclub.com

Be used to

Do not confuse be used to with with the special construction used to do. They have different meanings.

Be used to something
Be used to doing

Be used to is an expression. It is not a tense. If I say "I am used to Thailand", it is like saying "I am accustomed to Thailand."

Structure of Be used to

The structure is:

subject + be + used to + object

	subject	main verb be	not	used to	object
+	I	am		used to	horses.
-	He	is	not	used to	horses.
	We	aren't		used to	horses.
?	Are	you		used to	horses?

If the object invoves a verb, we use the -ing form:

I	am	not	used to	being lied to.
He	is		used to	working late.
We	aren't		used to	taking the bus.
Are	you		used to	cooking?

Why do we use -ing for a verb after be used to? Because we always use -ing for a verb after a preposition - and the to is a preposition.

Use of Be used to

The be used to expression is for talking about something that is familiar to us or easy for us. For example:

• I am used to driving on the left.

It means that it is not a problem for me to drive on the left of the road. I am Japanese. In Japan, people drive on the left. Now I am living in the USA where people drive on the right. Of course, I drive on the right in the USA, but when I go to Japan it is easy for me to drive on the left because "I am used to it".

Look at these examples.

• I am used to hard work.


• I am used to working hard.


• He is not used to New York.


• He isn't used to living in New York.


• Are you used to fast food?


• Are you used to eating quickly?

Tenses

We can use be used to in any tense. We just conjugate the verb be in the tense that we need. Look at these examples:

• When we lived in Bangkok, we were used to hot weather.


• I have been used to snakes for a long time.


• You will soon be used to living alone.

Now check your understanding »

Used to do

Do not confuse used to do with with the expression be used to. They have different meanings.

We use used to do to talk about the past. It is not a tense but it is like a tense. It is a special expression. We use the expression used to do for the past only.

Structure of Used to do

The structure is:

	subject	auxiliary did	not	main verb use	infinitive
+	I			used	to do.
-	I	did	not	use	to do.
?	Did	you		use	to do?

Used or use? when there is did in the sentence, we say use to (without d) when there is no did in the sentence, we say used to (with d)

Use of Used to do

We use the used to do expression to talk about:

• an activity that we did regularly in the past (like a habit)


• a situation that was true in the past

I used to smoke. ////// past present future

Look at these examples.

the past	the present
She used to work in a shop.	Now she works in a bank.
He used to watch a lot of TV.	Now he doesn't watch much TV.
They used to be married.	Now they are divorced.
There used to be a cinema here.	Now there is a supermarket here.
I didn't use to go swimming.	Now I go swimming.
Did you use to smoke?