All people have some kind of habit: someone is used to getting up early, someone is jogging in the morning, and someone is walking before going to bed. Some habits appeared a long time ago, and some people, on the contrary, are only going to develop.
Just to talk about the habits you have in English language the construction to be used to is used.
From this article you will learn: cases of using the construction be used to, features of use, examples and rules for constructing all types of sentences.
The use of the construction be used to in English
The be used to construction is used to describe something that is common to us, some kind of behavior that has become permanent. This construction is translated as "to be habitual".
We use to be used to in the following situations:
1. When a person speaks about any actions that are habitual and for him. That is, these actions do not seem surprising, difficult or strange to him.
For example: My friend is used to running in the morning.
We are used to living in a big city.
We are used to living in a big city.
He is used to getting up early.
He is used to getting up early.
2. When a person speaks about any things that are considered normal and ordinary
For example: He is used to a humid climate.
He is used to hard work.
He is accustomed to difficult work.
They are used to expensive gifts.
They are used to expensive gifts.
Formation of affirmative sentences with the construction be used to in English
We can use the construction be used to in the present, past, future tenses.
To do this, we need to put our verb to be in desired shape. Education scheme affirmative proposals will be as follows:
- when we speak about action, then we put the verb to be in right time and to the word denoting action, we add the ending -ing. The curriculum will be like this:
The one in question + be at the right time + used to + action ending -ing
- When we talk about something we are used to, that is about the subject/thing, then we also put to be at the right time, but we don’t add any endings to the subject.
The one in question + be at the right time + used to + item
Let's look at how we change the verb to be depending on the tenses.
sed to present tense
When it comes to the fact that a person at the moment, currently has any habits, then we put to be at the present time: am / are / is.
| I | am | ||
| You | |||
| We | are | cooking breakfast | |
| They | used to | cold shower | |
| She | dancing alone | ||
| He | is | ||
| It |
She is used to speaking in public.
She is used to public speaking.
We are used to travelling.
We are used to traveling.
Affirmative sentences with be used to in past tense
When we talk about the habits that we had in the past, we put to be in the past tense: was, were.
| I | was | ||
| You | |||
| We | were | cooking breakfast | |
| They | used to | cold shower | |
| She | dancing alone | ||
| He | was | ||
| It |
For example:
I was used to reading before bedtime when I was a child.
I used to read before bed when I was a child.
They were used to speaking English when they lived in New York.
They used to speak English when they lived in New York.
Affirmative sentences with be used to in future tense
When we talk about the habits we are trying to develop, we put will before our verb be.
| I | |||
| You | |||
| We | cooking breakfast | ||
| They | will be | used to | cold shower |
| She | dancing alone | ||
| He | |||
| It |
You will be used to rural life soon.
You will soon get used to rural life.
She will be used to driving a car.
She will get used to driving.
Formation of negative sentences with the construction used to in English
When we say that we are not used to doing something, that is, we consider something unusual, difficult or surprising, we use denial. It is formed using the particle not, which we put after the verb to be in the right tense. The educational scheme will be as follows:
The one in question + be at the right time + not + used to + action ending -ing or object
Let's look at the formation of negation in detail for each tense.
sed to present tense
In the present tense, we say that we are not used to doing something at the present moment, or that we do not consider something habitual at the present moment.
| I | am | |||
| You | ||||
| We | are | cooking breakfast | ||
| They | not | used to | cold shower | |
| She | dancing alone | |||
| He | is | |||
| It |
I am not used to drinking coffee without sugar.
I'm not used to drinking coffee without sugar.
We are not used to going to bed very late.
We are not used to staying up late.
Negative sentences with be used to in past tense
We use negation with be used to in past form when we talk about the fact that some time ago we didn’t have the habit of doing something or didn’t consider something habitual for ourselves.
| I | was | |||
| You | ||||
| We | were | cooking breakfast | ||
| They | not | used to | cold shower | |
| She | dancing alone | |||
| He | was | |||
| It |
He wasnotused to getting up at 6 a.m. two years ago.
He was not accustomed to getting up at six in the morning two years ago.
They werenotusedto doing homework.
They were not used to doing housework.
Negative sentences with be used to in future tense
When it comes to the fact that in the future you will not get used to something, then we put not after will.
| I | ||||
| You | ||||
| We | cooking breakfast | |||
| They | will | not | be used to | cold shower |
| She | dancing alone | |||
| He | ||||
| It |
She will not be used to living alone.
She's not used to living alone.
We will not be used to working at the weekends.
We're not used to working weekends.
Formation of interrogative sentences with the construction used to in English
To ask if someone has a habit, you need to put the verb to be in the correct tense first. The educational scheme will be as follows:
To be at the right time + the one in question + used to + action ending -ing or object
Let's see how it will play out in each of the times.
sed to present tense
If we ask if a person currently has a habit, we put our am/are/is in first place.
| Am | I | ||
| you | |||
| Are | we | cooking breakfast? | |
| they | used to | cold shower? | |
| he | dancing alone? | ||
| Is | she | ||
| it |
Are you used to cold weather?
Are you used to cold weather?
Is she used to going to clubs?
Is she used to going to clubs?
Interrogative sentences with be used to in past tense
If you want to know if a person had a habit of doing something some time ago, then you need to put was/were at the beginning of the sentence.
| was | I | ||
| you | |||
| Were | we | cooking breakfast? | |
| they | used to | cold shower? | |
| he | dancing alone? | ||
| was | she | ||
| it |
Weretheyusedto running every day a year ago?
Were you used to running every day a year ago?
washeusedto driving a truck last month?
Was he used to (was used to) driving a truck last month?
Interrogative sentences with be used to in future tense
If you are asking if a person will get used to something in the future tense, then you need to put will first.
| I | |||
| you | |||
| we | cooking breakfast? | ||
| Will | they | watching horrors?
Today we are going to talk about habits. In English we can different ways express the process of habit formation. Using a certain grammatical structure, we can note which habits we have already formed in the past.
Be used to
After "be used to" you can use a noun or a gerund (verb + ing). This design is used when it comes to describing something familiar or ordinary for a person.
For example, I am used to working at night. - I'm used to working at night.
I don't think Tom's strange - I'm used to him. - I don't think Tom is weird. I'm used to it.
Negative form - be not used to.
For example, I don't understand him: I'm not used to his accent yet. - I do not understand him. I'm not used to his accent yet.
Get used to
We use " get used to", when there is a process of habit formation, a person adapts to new circumstances. After "get used to" you can use a noun or a gerund (verb + ing).
She works in London, so she needs to get used to being a commuter. - She works in London, she needs to get used to constant travel.
We get used to relaxing in the countryside. - We get used to rest outside the city.
used to
We should not forget about the turnover used to, followed by either the infinitive of the verb (to + verb) or a noun and denotes what a person used to do in the past, but now is not in the habit of doing it.
I used to walk to school in my childhood. - As a child, I used to walk to school.
Don't forget: in the negative form, we use "didn't" with the base form "use to". Interrogative sentences use "Did"
I didn't use to walk to school. I didn't have the habit of walking to school.
Did you use to walk to school? - Did you usually walk to school?
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Task 1 of 1
1 .
Number of points: 6Insert used to, get used to, be used and the verbs in brackets, remember to use them in the correct form.
- She (used to)(be) fat in her childhood but now she is slim.
- We won't stay in this hotel any more. We (are not used to living)(live) in such awful conditions.
- Did you (use to write)(write) funny stories when you were a student?
- She is a newcomer. She has to (get used to work)(work) very hard.
- My friend moved to another country. He needs some time (to get used to living)(live) there.
- I won't order a cup of coffee. I (am not used to drinking)(drink) such a strong drink in the evening. It's harmful to health.
These three turns seem to be the same due to the presence of ‘used to’ in all three cases, however, they have different meaning V .
Scheme of use:
Do (something).
I do (something).
I do (something).
I used to be boring. Now I have a mustache.
The construction ‘‘ conveys our past habit, but does not mention when exactly it started or ended. This turnover is often confused with " to be/get used to". But here you need to be extremely careful, since these are two completely different grammatical constructions. Not only do they have different meanings, but they are also used in different ways. The verb after the turn 'used to' does not change in any way, it is taken directly from the dictionary. There is also no need to agree with the noun.
Let's look at a simple example of using "used to":
I drink coffee every morning. I drank coffee every day. (Meaning that the person had a habit of drinking coffee every day, but now this habit has been abandoned, and he does not do so anymore.)
In the phrases ‘get used to’ and ‘be used to’, the word ‘used’ is translated as “used to”, “accustomed to something”. The verbs get and be in these phrases change depending on the tense and the subject that precedes these verbs.
Just like 'used to', 'be used to' denotes the habit of doing something in the past if the past tense forms (was, were) are used. Usually in such cases, such a turnover indicates that this no longer happens.
I drank (used to drink) coffee every morning when I worked at the office (no longer works there and does not drink).
The form 'get used to' shows a change in habit in the past when using the past tense form of the verb get. Usually this form indicates that the process is still ongoing.
I drink coffee every morning when I worked at an office. I used to drink coffee when I worked at the office (does not work anymore, but the habit remains).
The future tense form ‘get used to’ is formed by adding will in front of it:
I will get used to drinking coffee if I move to Europe as they have the best coffees in the world.
I will get used to drinking coffee every day if I move to Europe because they have the most best coffee in the world.
On the other hand, when we use the present form of the verb be (am, are, is) in the phrase ‘be used to’, it conveys the meaning that we used to do something in the past, and this habit has remained.
Drinking coffee every morning.
I am used to drinking coffee every day.
She drinking coffee every morning.
She used to drink coffee every morning.
They drink coffee every morning.
They are used to drinking coffee every morning.
Note that ‘get used to’ and ‘be used to’ are followed by a gerund (a verb that acts as a noun and ends in -ing).
Present (present)
Used: to express a regular, regularly repeated action.
Formed: from the infinitive of the semantic verb (without to); in the 3rd l. units numbers ending -s(Verbs to have And to be have special forms conjugations).
do(does):
Not reads much.
Does he read much?
He does not read much.
Continuous (continued)
Used: to express an action that is happening at the moment, at the moment of speech.
Formed: from an auxiliary verb to be present participle of the semantic verb (participle I) .
In interrogative placed before the subject.
In the negative particle not placed after auxiliary verb.
Is not reading.
Is he reading?
He is not reading.
Perfect (perfect)
Used: to express a completed (or still ongoing) action, the result of which is connected with the present.
Formed: from an auxiliary verb have (has) past participle of the semantic verb (participle II).
In interrogative
In the negative particle not placed after the auxiliary verb.
Hasn't already come.
Has he come?
He has not come yet.
Perfect-Continuous (perfect-continued)
Used: to express an action that began in the past and continues in the present.
Formed: from an auxiliary verb to be in the shape of Present Perfect(has been; has been)
In interrogative auxiliary verb in sentences have or has placed before the subject.
In the negative particle not placed after the first auxiliary verb.
Has not been working here for 5 years.
Has he been working here for 5 years?
He has not been working here for 5 years.
Past (past)
Simple (Indefinite)
Used: to express an action that happened in the past.
By way of education past simple
English verbs are divided into standard and non-standard.
Interrogative and negative sentences are formed with an auxiliary verb do in the shape of (did):
Not came yesterday.
Did he come yesterday?
He did not come yesterday.
Continuous (continued)
Used: to express an action that took place at a specific point in time in the past.
Formed: Past Simple (was, were) participle I of the semantic verb.
Interrogative and negative Present continuous:
Was not reading when they came.
Was he reading when they came?
he was not reading when they came.
Perfect (perfect)
Used: to express an action that ended before another action or a specific moment in the past.
Formed: from an auxiliary verb have in the shape of Past Simple (had) participle II of the semantic verb.
Interrogative and negative sentences are formed in the same way as in Present Perfect:
Not had finished his work by 6 o "clock.
Had he finished his work by 6 o "clock?
He had not finished his work by 6 o "clock.
Used: to express an action that began at a certain moment in the past and continued for some time before the start of another action.
Formed: from the auxiliary verb to be in the form Past Perfect (had been) participle I of the semantic verb.
Interrogative and negative sentences are formed in the same way as in Present Perfect Continuous:
Not had been working here for 5 years when the war broke out.
Future (future)
Simple (Indefinite)
Used: to express an action that will happen in the future.
Formed: from auxiliary verbs shall(for the 1st person singular and plural) and will(for other persons and numbers).
In interrogative auxiliary verb in sentences shall And will placed before the subject.
In the negative the particle not is placed after the auxiliary verb.
Will not come tomorrow.
Will he come tomorrow?
He will not come tomorrow.
Continuous (continued)
Used: to express an action that will take place at a certain time in the future.
Formed: from auxiliary verbs shall or will, which are placed before the auxiliary verb to be (without to) Participle I of the semantic verb.
In interrogative In sentences, the first auxiliary verb is placed before the subject.
In negative - not placed after the first auxiliary verb:
Not will be working here from 10 till 12 tomorrow.
Will he be working here from 10 till 12 tomorrow?
He will not be working here from 10 till 12 tomorrow.
Perfect (perfect)
Used: to express an action that will be completed by a certain point in time in the future.
Formed: from auxiliary verbs shall or will semantic verb in the form present perfect.
In interrogative auxiliary verb in sentences shall or will placed before the subject.
In the negative particle not placed after these verbs:
Not will have finished his work by Monday.
Will he have finished his work by Monday?
He will not have finished his work by Monday.
Perfect-Continuous (perfect-continued)
Used: to express an action that, having begun at a certain moment, will still continue at some point in the future.
Formed: from auxiliary verbs shall or will verb to be(in the shape of present perfect) Participle I of the semantic verb.
Interrogative and negative sentences are formed in the same way as others Future Tenses:
By the end of the year he will have been working here for 2 years.
