Would & used to Would is used to talk about something that happened regularly in the past, but no longer happens: She would sit by the lake and look at the stupid ducks. A man with a bag full of clothes would come and sell my mother nice pieces of clothing. When you use 'would' like this, you often add an adjunct of time: She would often hear him grumbling. Once in a while she'd give me some lilac to take home. Every day I'd ring up home and asked if they'd changed their minds. You can use 'used to' instead of 'would' to talk about repeated actions in the past: She used to sit by the lake and look at the stupid ducks. A man with a bag full of clothes used to come and sell my mother nice pieces of clothing. But, you have to use 'used to' to describe past states and situations: I'm not quite as mad as I used to be. I used to live in Campo Mourão. Look at this: I used to live in Campo Mourão. We used to play football in a street in front of my house. An old woman would always come and try to take away our ball. home |