USED TO? Not this one.. ..maybe GET USED TO? Definitely not. It's BE USED TO

Hey once again!

  I was thinking that it would be a good idea to give you some extra practice on this grammar item. Here you have an online exercise for you to get a little  bit of extra practice on the use of these frequently confusing grammar  items. Click on
The Grammar Aquarium  and  do it.

Main difference between "WOULD/ USED TO" as a habit in the past.

In relation to  the grammar item dealt with in class last week, let me give you a much clearer explanation  of the real differences between 'would' and 'used to'   and some  extra practice on them.

 
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.

'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times;
'Used to ' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past,including repeated actions or situations.

To make this clearer, let's look at the three examples of 'used to' sentences, and see if we can change them into 'would' sentences.


Here's the first example again:
"I used to live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."

Can we use 'would' instead of 'used to' here? 
No, we can't, because 'living in Manchester' wasn't repeated again and again and again. It's simply a situation in the past. Therefore, only 'used to' is good in this sentence.

The second example again:
" When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."

Here, we're talking about 'playing football every Saturday'. This is an action that was repeated many times, so we can also say: 
"When he was at school, he would play football every Saturday".
'Used to' and 'would' are both good here, and the meaning is the same.

Finally, the third example again:
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."

Did she 'hate her job' many times? 
No, this isn't a repeated action, so in this example 'would' isn't possible. We have to use 'used to'. 

Here you have a  couple of  links where to  get a bit of extra practice on "used to" or " would".

 http://www.inglesmundial.com/A2/grammar.htm

http://englishdailyworkout.blogspot.com/2011/04/used-to-and-would-exercise-past-habits.html

Hope everything is  a lot clearer  after all this!

Stative or Dynamic Verbs?

A list with the main STATIVE VERBS!

  As I mentioned the other day in class, here  I have made a list with verbs that  might well fall under the category of "STATIVE" as they do represent a "state" so that you can decide on the right verb when dealing with USED TO or WOULD sentences for habits in the past.

STATIVE VERBS  fall into four groups:
Verbs Showing Thought or Opinions
know
believe
understand
recognize
Verbs Showing Possession 
have
own
belong
possess
Verbs Showing Senses
hear
smell
see
feel
Verbs Showing Emotion
love
hate
want
need


If you are unsure of whether a verb is an action verb or a stative verb ask yourself the following question:
Does this verb relate some sort of process or a state? If it relates a process, then the verb is an action verb. If it relates a state, the verb is a stative verb.

UNIT 5: GERUNDS AND INFINITIVES

Another list of verbs

A few links where you can get some extra practice:

Exercise 1 exercise 2 exercise 3  exercise 4  exercise 5 exercise 6

UNIT 4B: OFTEN CONFUSED WORDS

A good exercise here( on often confused verbs)

one on often confused nouns

Loads of commonly confused words

File: 4B MODALS IN THE PAST TENSE

Explanation on modals in the past

past modal of deduction quiz
QUIA quiz

ESL classroom perfect modals 1        ESL classroom perfect modals 2

FILE 4A: CONDITIONALS

Here's some extra practice on Conditionals.

2nd Conditional

3rd Conditional

All types of conditionals

All types of conditional (a short quiz)

All types of Conditionals( 20 questions)

More actitivies( 3rd Conditional)
More activities
More activities
More activities
More activities
More activities

SOME MORE ACTIVITIES ON EXPRESSIONS WITH "TAKE"

list BBC
phrasal verbs with take
Phrasal verbs 2
Phrasal verbs 3
collocations with take, have and break
collocations with do, make and take.

3B: FUTURE PERFECT AND FUTURE CONTINUOUS

 Here's some quizzes to give you all extra practice in the use of these two future tenses:

QUIZ 1   
 QUIZ 2 ( with some explanations)
QUIZ 3 (you should scroll down to bottom of the page for activity)
QUIZ 4

Unit 3: 3A- PASSIVE

Hi guys,

here's some more grammar on PASSIVE VOICE.

Passive 1     Passive 2   Passive 3   Passive 4  and getting harder each time!!

Time for ADVERBS!!

Today we have dealt with adverbs in class.

Take a look at this Powerpoint presentation on how adverbs are used. Also, do the activity you have at the end of it.

For further practice, here's  a website where you can have a more detailed explanation and some extra practice on it. Click here to go to the website.

2B: NARRATIVE TENSES

 Hi guys,
Here's some more extra practice on narrative tenses.

Gap-fill exercise 1
Gap-fill exercise 2

2C: Mini grammar: SO/SUCH quiz

 Hey there,

 Just a bit more on how to use these emphasizers and a QUIZ to check their usage.


SO/ SUCH quiz

ANSWER KEY to 1C present perfect simple & present perfect continuous hand-out.

Hi guys,

here you have the answer key for the activity:

A) 2) Have you been eating; 3) haven't had; 4) haven't wanted; 5) have you had/ have you been having;
     6)'ve taken; 7) Have you been working; 8) have been; 9) 've been getting; 10) haven't been sleeping/haven't slept; 11)'ve been overworking; 12)'ve just been promoted.

B) 2) have you been waiting; 3) have you known; 4) have you had; 5) have you been learning; 6) have you been coming.

1C: Extra practice on Present perfect simple/ Present perfect continuous

Hi,

here you have a hand-out  to get extra practice on  these two verb tenses looked at in class.
Click here to  see the hand-out

Corresponding units from NEW ENGLISH FILE and grammar sections in CAMBRIDGE GRAMMAR FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE

Hi guys,

As mentioned on the first day in class, I told you about some possible GRAMMAR books for further reference. Here you have the one that might suit your needs, as it corresponds with our  textbook this year.

Corresponding units from NEW ENGLISH FILE UPPER-INTERMEDIATE and grammar sections in CAMBRIDGE GRAMMAR FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE:

NEW ENGLISH FILE UPPER-INTERMEDIATE		CAMBRIDGE GRAMMAR FOR FIRST CERTIFICATE (BY SECTIONS)
FILE 1	1 A	SECTION 9
	1 B	SECTIONS 1,2,
	1 C	SECTIONS SECTION 3
FILE 2	2 A	SECTION 7
	2 B	SECTION 4,
	2 C	SECTION 8
FILE 3	3 A	SECTION 15
	3 B	SECTIONS 5,6
	3 C	SECTION 19
FILE 4	4 A	SECTION 20
	4 B	SECTION 20
	4 C	——-
FILE 5	5 A	SECTION 17
	5 B	SECTION 2
	5 C	SECTION 16
FILE 6	6 A	SECTION 10
	6 B	SECTIONS 10, 15
	6 C	SECTION 11
FILE 7	7 A	SECTION 20
	7 B	SECTION 25
	7 C	SECTION 23

FILE 1: Extra links to practise grammar items seen in class

Hi again,

Here you have  a bunch of interesting links for those of you who might  need some extra practice.

1B  PERSONALITY ADJECTIVES… listening esl-lab    quibblo    eslcourses   englishexercises.org    proprofs    esltower    esltower2     eslabout     translation activity

THE…THE…COMPARATIVE… esl lounge

KEY TO QUESTION FORMATION hand-out

Hi there,

As promised, here you have the KEY  to the hand-out on  QUESTION FORMATION.


Key to QUESTION FORMATION( Unit 1)

More practice on QUESTION FORMATION!!

Hi evereyone!
Here you have a bit of more activities on "question formation"
Hope you don't get too bored !!

Question formation exercise

Extra practice on QUESTION FORMATION ( Unit 1A)

Hi,
Here you have some more extra activities on QUESTION FORMATION as related to Unit 1A in the textbook.
Hope you don't get too bored!!


Indirect questions:

http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/indirectques.html

http://www.usingenglish.com/quizzes/312.html


Subject/Object questions:
http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/blgrquiz_questionforms_subob.htm


Right or wrong?:
http://a4esl.org/q/h/vm/questform.html