ESOL Teesside: December 2014

Dear students!

I have some good news for you! Past Continuous, which you've been learning recently, is one of the easier tenses in English! It is very similar to Present Continuous in form and usage so you shouldn't have any problems with understanding it. Have a look at the following presentation that explains the basic rules:

Here are some links where you can find more explanation & some exercises:

Past Simple & Continuous explained + an interactive exercise

Make sentences out of words (Past Continuous)

Make negative sentences out of the words given

Make questions in Past Continuous

Put into correct tense: Past Simple or Past Continuous

Explanation + a lot of exercises (Click on the right)

Hello students!

In this post we're going to deal with 'used to'. As we mentioned in class, 'used to' expresses a habit or a state in the past that is no longer true now. How to better show this but to look at some pictures from the past and present!

In the picture on the left, you can see that I used to have long hair and I used to have a fringe. And I didn't use to wear glasses. But that was long time ago! Now, I have short hair and I wear glasses.

You very often need to use this construction to refer to old habits from your childhood, e.g.:

I used to play football with my friends every Sunday morning.
I used to be in bed by 9 o'clock.
I used to ride my bicycle all day.
I used to play hide and seek.

All those sentences mean that you did those things in the past but you don't do them any more.

Of course, 'used to' can refer to any past time in your life, not just your childhood, e.g.:

I used to live in London when I was younger.
I used to work in a supermarket.
I used to drive to work.
I used to go out a lot.
I used to hate cheese.
I didn't use to go to bed before 11 pm.

All those sentences mean that you no longer do all those things, To get clearer understanding, we can add some sentences about your current circumstances:

I used to live in London when I was younger. Now, I live in Newcastle.
I used to work in a supermarket. Now, I work in a bank.
I used to drive to work. Now, I walk because my work is a short distance from my house.
I used to go out a lot. Now, I don't go out any more.
I used to hate cheese. Now, I love cheese.
I didn't use to go to bed before 11 pm. Now, I am fast asleep at 10 pm every night.

'Used to' can show how the habits of humanity have changed. Look at the following slides.

People used to live in caves. Now they live in houses.

Take a look at some more slides and try to create sentences like the ones above. The picture on the left of each slide will show a situation from the past, and the picture on the right will show a situation now. You have some words on top of each slide to help you create sentences/.