Used to and Would and Past Simple

Used to

• We often use used to (+ infinitive) instead of the past simple to refer to past habits, routines and states, especially when the habit or routine does not happen any more or when the state is no longer true.
  • There used to be many trees in the village.
  • Jackie used to have three rabbits, but one died.
• The question form and negative are usually Did … use to … ? and didn’t use to
  • Did they use to play volleyball?
  • They didn’t use to play basketball.
• Be / Get used to (+ noun or –ing) is not connected with used to (+ infinitive). Used to (+ noun or –ing) means accustomed to.
  • I don’t really like the food here. I’m not used to eating so much meat.

Would

• We sometimes use would (+ infinitive) instead of used to to refer to past habits or routines if the time reference is clear.
  • Khurram was frequently leading his army off to fight in different parts of the empire. Mumtaz would always travel with him.
• We don’t use would to refer to past states or if the time reference is not clear.
  • I used to love dance music. NOT I would love dance music.
  • I used to go to the cinema a lot. NOT I would go to the cinema a lot.

Past simple (Subject + V₂ + object)

• We use past simple, not used to or would (+ infinitive), to say exactly how many times something happened in total. Note the difference:
  • I read six books last month!
  • I read / used to read / would read a lot when I was a child.

Source: Active Grammar, Level 3, Mark Lloyd and Jeremy Day, CUP, 2011 (With Ramrowriter’s adaptation where necessary)