Hi friends, my name is Sonia and welcome to today's lesson. Well today's lesson is all
about using used to in English. Well the word, "used" is actually the past tense of the word,
"use." Right, so for example if I made something yesterday I would say," I used pepper in my
pasta yesterday." which means I used something to cook my pasta yesterday. However, when
you add the word to, to used suddenly the entire meaning changes. It acts like a helping
verb in a sentence. So it helps the sentence to have more meaning, to have better meaning.
What we will do today, is learn the two ways in which you can use "used to."
Now I remember when I was a kid, I used to play badminton a lot. Alright, so what I'm
trying to say here is, “I used to play badminton a lot, when I was a kid." Now this sentence
over here means that, this is an action which happened a lot in the past but may or may
not happen now. Obviously I have grown up, I don't have that much time and so I may not
be able to really get into sports. So I can tell my friends, I used to play badminton,
when I was a kid. But maybe I don't do it that much anymore and hence I'm using the
phrase... used to. The next example that I have for you is, “she
used to meet me every day." So for example if I have a friend and her name is Sam alright
and we were really good buddies. Maybe about two years ago, we used to meet a lot, we used
to chat often, o for coffees and things like that. But now we just don't have the time
or maybe she is not so friendly with me anymore. So I can make a sentence like, " she used
to meet me every day, I can complain, I can say, she used to meet me every day but she
doesn't meet me anymore. So I'm angry about that." Now keep in mind, when I use the phrase,
"used to" I always use the first form of the verb. In my first sentence, my verb or my
action word was,"play." In my second sentence, the action word or the verb is meet. So remember
if you are using used to describe that something that used to happen in the past, but maybe
doesn't happen anymore, I will always use the first or the simplest form of the verb,
alright. My next sentence on the board for you is,"Peter
used to work six days a week." So used to means this is something that used to happen
a while ago and doesn't happen anymore. Keep in mind, again the verb work is in the present
form or in the simplest form of it. This means that maybe Peter was a workaholic, he had
a lot of work and hence he used to work six days a week. I would never do that. I love
my holidays and I like to not be working on a weekend. So Peter used to work six days
a week, he realized that it is not really worth it and now maybe he works just 4 or
5 days a week, okay. The next sentence I have here is, "they used
to visit us every summer." So see how many of us have relatives and then we have holidays
and then sometimes we have our relatives or our friends coming over and staying with us
for a while. So if you have any relatives who used to visit you every summer, but don't
visit you anymore. If you want to, you can be really happy about that, but remember if
this used to happen earlier and it doesn't happen anymore. You can make a sentence like,"
they used to visit us every summer but they don't visit us anymore.” And we are really
happy about that too. So that is how you can use the phrase, "used
to" in your everyday conversation to talk about something that happened for a long or
a short time but may not happen anymore. Okay so that is how you can describe activities
or things which used to happen but May or may not really happen anymore. Use a simple
phrase like used to, okay. Now, this phrase is something that is really,
really useful, okay. It's got another usage as well in English. The next usage of the
phrase used to is to talk about something which you are used to. Confused? Well, this
means that this is an action which happens on a daily basis, you are familiar with it,
and you are habituated to it. You have no option but to just let it happen and just
go on. So for example, if you have neighbours who are very noisy and who talk really loudly.
You can something like,"I'm used to this now. My neighbours talk all the time and they are
so loud." But I'm used to it, you know it happens every day, so you can say, I'm used
to this noise now. So used to over here means, something that you are habituated to or something
that you are familiar with, alright. Now there is another important thin to keep in mind
here. In this sentence, when you use the phrase, used to. Do you notice this over here? I have
written something like I'm, which is basically I and am contracted or put together. Now one
thing that you need to keep in mind is, whenever you use, used to in such a way to talk about
something that you are familiar with or you are habituated to, you will always use the
first form of the "to be" verb which means you will see I am or you will say we are,
you are, they are or you will say he is or she is or somebody's name is. So for example,
I am used to. So I and am becomes I'm and then you say I am used to this noise now.
Now remember guys this is because this actions happens every day. It happens even now, it
goes on and on, it does not stop. So you need to use the present form of the verb here.
The next sentence I have for you is, “she is used to my timings." Now as a trainer,
my timings can differ. At times I work for a couple of hours, at times I work for just
a few hours. So mother is really used to my timings. She tries and prepares food and you
know she is at home, whenever I am too, in order to make sure that she and I are at home
at the same time. So she is used to my timings now. It is something that is habitual, she
is familiar with it. Again I'm using the first form of the to be verb. So I say she is used
to because this action happens day in and day out.
The next example I have for you on the board is," we are used to the heat in the summer."
wooh...we are used to the heat in the summer. Yes, so again I use, used to say that we are
familiar with this, we have a habit of this and we're is basically we and are put together.
So it becomes we're. Again I have used the first form of the, to be verb because I'm
using we, hence I have mentioned here, are. But if I wanna put it together, if I wanna
contract, I say we're. It's up to you, you can say, we are or you can say, we're used
to heat in the summer. The last and final example I have is," Sam
is used to my habits." Okay, so Sam is used to my habits. So if you have friend who kind
of knows you in and out and knows everything about you. You can make a sentence like, “you
know my friend Sam, he is used to my habits, he is used to how I am, and he will take care
of everything. So again here, because I'm using the word Sam, I'm using the first form
or the present form of the verb, to be. So I say, Sam is used to my habits because they
happen every single day. So guys this is how you can use the phrase,
"used to." Two ways, the first way is when you want to talk about something that happened
for a long time or a short time, may or may not happen anymore. The second way is, when
you want to talk about something that you are familiar with or you have a habit of and
remember over here you will use the first form of the to be verb or the present form.
Alright, so I'm used to training and I like doing it a lot. And I hope that you get used
to these videos and you make sure that you keep practicing. I will come back with another
interesting video soon, till then take care and keep practicing, bye.