The meanings are different. 1) "Used to (be/do)" indicates a state or repeated action in the past which is not true now. More information: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/past/used-to 2) "To be” in the past (was/were) indicates a state (with no indication of whether it is true now). Example: Joe grew up in Canada. Winters were cold and snowy. He skied whenever he could. He was intelligent. He was sociable. Everybody liked him. Counter-example: Joe grew up in Canada. Winters used to be cold and snowy. He skied whenever he could. He used to be intelligent. He used to be sociable. Everybody liked him. The meaning is clearly different. Some parts are clearly misleading such as "Winters used to be cold and snowy” with the meaning “but not anymore.” However, Canada is still cold and snowy in the winter.

No different in meaning, just different ways to put it.

两个意思一样的 说法不一样而已。都是我曾经是个律师。used to+verb. 曾经... get used to it 习惯它 Subject+ was+ object 就字面意思了

Did you mean lawyer ? used to be means you stopped it now ! you no longer work as a lawyer. Is that what you are trying to tell us?

Both mean the same thing. You can use these interchangeably in most cases.