a-chama
about difference between used to and would we used to live in America for ten years. do you think it is not perfect? i learnd it is not perfect. and .... do you feel there is difference between used to and would?
Dec 3, 2008 2:41 PM
Answers · 3
3
Hi a-chama It's definitely not right. You can have 'We used to live in America', or 'We lived in America for 10 years'. Without context, its hard to make a direct comparison between 'used' and 'would'.
December 3, 2008
1
used to describes a past event would is conditional or habitual "I would take a walk, but it's raining right now." according to the Elements of Style by W. Strunk & E.B. White "Commonly used to express habitual or repeated action. ('He would get up early and prepare his own breakfast before he went to work.') But when the idea of habit or repetition is expressed, in such phrases as once a year, everyday, each Sunday, the past tense, without would, is usually sufficient, and, from its brevity, more emphatic. Incorrect 'Once a year he would visit the old mansion.' Correct 'Once a year he visited the old mansion.' "In narrative writing, always indicate the transition from the general to the particular - that is, from sentences that merely state a general habit to those that express the action of a specific day or period. Failure to indicate the change will cause confusion. Incorrect 'Townsend would get up early and prepare his own breakfast. If the day was cold, he filled the stove and had a warm fire burning before he left the house. On his way out to the garage, he noticed that there were footprints in the new-fallen snow on the porch.' The reader is lost, having received no signal that Townsend has changed from a mere man of habit to a man who has seen a particular thing on a particular day. Correct 'Townsend would get up early and prepare his own breakfast. If the day was cold, he filled the stove and had a warm fire burning before he left the house. One morning in January, on his way out to the garage, he noticed footprints in the new-fallen snow on the porch."
December 4, 2008
As I know we use would and used to to talk about things that happened (regularly) in the past but no longer happen now, the only diffirenece between both of the verbs that we use would only to talk about activities and used to to talk about activities and states .
December 5, 2008
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