Used to worksheets for ESL
22 worksheets, 1 lesson and 1 shadowing script · Tenses
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Used to worksheets
22 printable worksheets with answer keys.
Used to lessons
1 ready lesson for the four skills: teach on the board, set online or print.
Used to shadowing
Listen, repeat, record and compare: short scripts for pronunciation and fluency.
Warm-ups and fillers
Quick Fun Corner activities on the same theme: no preparation.
- Ice breaker · B1Tell your partner three things you used to do but don’t do now: “I used to play the violin. I used to hate coffee!” Find something you both used to do.
- Filler · B1Each student writes one secret “When I was a child, I used to…” sentence on a scrap of paper. Read them out: “…sleep with a toy dinosaur.” The class guesses who wrote each one.
About Used to
Used to + base verb describes past habits and states that are no longer true: I used to play the piano. There used to be a movie theater here. Questions and negatives use did, and the standard written form then drops the -d: I didn't use to like coffee. Did you use to walk to school?
It is introduced at A2–B1 and extended from B2 with would for repeated past actions (Every summer we would go camping) and with be/get used to + -ing, meaning be or become accustomed: I'm used to getting up early. Learners confuse these structures, try to use used to for present habits, and use would for past states (*I would have long hair).
Here are printable used to worksheets with answer keys, which print as PDFs or can be solved online through a class link.
Teaching tips: Used to
- Use 'then and now' photos of people, towns or technology to elicit There used to be… and People used to…
- Ask learners to write three past habits, one of them false, for classmates to guess.
- Watch for *I use to go to the gym (meaning now): used to has no present form, so present habits need the present simple, often with usually.
- Teach be used to + -ing separately, with a clear concept check: is it a past habit, or something that is now familiar?
Questions teachers ask
What's the difference between used to and would?
Both describe repeated past actions, but only used to works for past states: I used to have a dog, not *I would have a dog. Would also needs the past time frame to be established first.
Is it 'didn't used to' or 'didn't use to'?
Didn't use to is the standard written form, because did is followed by the base verb. Didn't used to is common in informal writing, and the two sound the same.
How is used to different from be used to?
Used to + base verb is a past habit (I used to live in London); be used to + noun or -ing means be accustomed (I'm used to living in London) and can be used in any tense.