Past habits: used to, be used to, get used to

B1 Intermediate

This guide explains how to describe past habits using 'used to', and how to express familiarity with a situation using 'be used to' and 'get used to'.

Overview

While these three structures look similar, they have different meanings and grammatical rules. Used to describes finished past habits or states. Be used to describes being familiar with something, and get used to describes the process of becoming familiar with something.

Key Differences

Note that 'used to' only exists in the past tense, while 'be used to' and 'get used to' can be used in the past, present, or future.

Structure	Meaning	Followed by...
used to	Past habit/state (no longer true)	Infinitive verb
be used to	Familiarity (it is normal now)	Noun or -ing verb
get used to	The process of changing	Noun or -ing verb

Form

used to + infinitive / be + used to + -ing

For past habits, use did not use to for negatives and Did you use to...? for questions. For familiarity, the verb 'be' or 'get' changes to match the tense and subject.

Examples

Common mistakes

I am used to wake up early.
I am used to waking up early.
After 'be used to', you must use a noun or a gerund (-ing form), not the infinitive.
I didn't used to like olives.
I didn't use to like olives.
In negative sentences and questions with 'did', the 'd' is dropped from 'used'.

Practice

When I was a child, I ___ (play) outside every day.
Show answer
used to play
Answer:used to play
Why:We use 'used to + infinitive' to describe a repeated action in the past that no longer happens.
I've been in the UK for a year, so I am finally ___ (drive) on the left.
Show answer
used to driving
Answer:used to driving
Why:The speaker is describing a state of familiarity, which requires 'be used to + -ing'.
Don't worry, you will soon ___ (get) used to the new software.
Show answer
get
Answer:get
Why:We use 'get used to' to describe the process of becoming familiar with something over time.