Use of : " Would " vs " Used to "

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Would vs Used to

When we can use 'would' instead of 'used to'.

 

'Would' can be used instead of 'used to' to talk about repeated actions in the past. However, the use of 'would' is more restricted than that of 'used to'.

•     "Would' can be used only with action verbs (go, play, talk, walk...).


• 'Used to' can be used with both action verbs and stative verbs (be, hate, know...)

Would _ only action verbs

Used to _ both action and state verbs

Action verbs:

When we were young

"During the summer we would/used to go to the beach."

"My sister would/used to collect seashells."

"We would/used to swim a lot, even if the water was cold."

"We would/used to build castles in the sand.

"Mum would/used to bring sandwiches for us."

"Dad would/used to buy us ice-cream."

State verbs:

"I would-hate spinach." (incorrect) - "I used to hate spinach." (correct)

"We would live in Malaga." (incorrect) - "We used to live in Malaga." (correct)

"My sister would-be shy." (incorrect) - "My sister used to be shy." (correct)

Would

"Would' cannot be used without establishing a time period:

e.g. "when we were young", "long ago"...

"Every summer we would go camping."

Used to

No time period needed with 'used to':

"As kids, we used to watch cartoons."

"I used to play tennis a lot."

'Used to' indicates that this is no longer true.