Would/used to Hi, there Please, could you help me with the beggining of my essay? Should I use would or used to? The role of reading in the process of early literacy development (do you know what I

Gabriel

Would/used to Hi, there Please, could you help me with the beggining of my essay? Should I use would or used to? The role of reading in the process of early literacy development (do you know what I mean?) Much as research is carried out, to some people the role of reading in the early childhood seems to be a contentious area. Despite that, however controversial it may appear once in a while, the benfits of resding are more and more evident. Scientific research carried out by the University of Paris between 2010 and 2012 showed that people whose parents WOULD READ/USED TO READ to them as a child are more prone to develop a taste for reading as a grown-up and more prone to take a interest in foreign languages. Thank you so much!!!!

May 2, 2016 7:30 PM

Answers · 19

"used to" is correct here. For simple short factual reports about the past use "used to". The use of "would" is a little more difficult. "Much as research is carried out" - this doesn't make sense. Perhaps you mean: "Although much research has been carried out, ..." "prone to" is not the same as "likely" or "probable". You need to work on your understanding of the special meaning of "prone to" a bit more. For now, stay with "likely" or "probable".

May 2, 2016

I'd probably just use simple past here: "people whose parents read to them as children" (note plural).

May 2, 2016

According to McMillan, you can use "would" for past habits and "used to" for past habits and states. In this case both variants are possible. Indeed, "much as" has this meaning according to the dictionary, just this expression is not as common as the word "although" which makes it more difficult for readers to comprehend the text.

May 2, 2016