Grammar · Free lesson
Used to or usually? A habit before and now
Your old job was outside town, so you drove to work every day. You changed jobs, and now you normally take the bus. The useful contrast is not just how often you travel. It is which routine belongs to which time.
Professor Scott MendozaThe short answer
Use used to + base verb for a former habit: I used to drive to work. For your typical routine now, use usually with the present simple: I usually take the bus now. Used to does not have a present-habit form use to.
Let the time contrast choose the pattern.
Used to drive presents driving as a past routine that is no longer your usual routine. Keep drive in the base form after used to. Usually describes frequency; the present-simple verb take and the word now place our second routine in the present. Used to can also describe a former state: I used to live nearby.
Compare the two routines
I used to drive to work.
I usually take the bus now.
I used to live near my office.
A former habit is not a single event. I drove to work yesterday reports one trip; it does not by itself describe a former routine.
Explain a change
Name the old habit
I used to drive to work.
Name the present routine
I usually take the bus now.
Try it now
Which routine are you describing?
Read all answers and explanations
Maya drove to work regularly in her old job. That is no longer her routine. Choose the sentence that expresses that former habit.
Maya used to drive to work.Used to drive describes the former routine. Usually drives now describes a current habit; is used to driving says she is accustomed to it.
These days Maya normally takes the bus. Which sentence states that current habit?
Maya usually takes the bus now.Usually takes states her normal present routine. Use to is not an affirmative present-habit pattern, and used to places the habit in the past.
Complete the former-habit sentence with the correct verb form.
We used to walk to school.Use the base verb walk after used to. Walking belongs in the different accustomed-to pattern: We are used to walking.
Put it into practice
Repair a before-and-now message
You biked regularly as a child, but now normally walk. Choose the version that keeps both time meanings.
I use to bike to school as a child, but now I used to walk.
See a model answer
I used to bike to school as a child, but now I usually walk.
The two clauses keep the change visible without implying that the childhood routine is still the usual one.
A little more clarity
Common questions
A few useful details before you move on.
Can used to describe one trip yesterday?
Use the simple past for a single completed trip. Used to describes a former repeated habit or state, not that one event.
I took the bus yesterday.
Can usually go with a past-tense verb?
Yes. Usually gives the frequency, not the tense. A past verb can place that frequency in a past situation.
At my old job, I usually drove on Mondays.
Take it into your day
Used to points to a former habit or state. Usually tells us what typically happens; the verb and context supply the time.
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