used to or would ?
Hello, guys!

I need your help.

Today we've been learning grammar about using used to and would. We had two cases:

1) when we have repeated actions in the past which don't happen now we use "used to or would"
"I used to (would) play football when I was a small kid (by the way do we use small kid or little kid; I know when it comes to sizes we use "small", but I've heard "little")

2) we use only used to when talk about states in the past

I didn't use to like my classmates.

But in the exercise we had the sentences:

I used to/would hope that no one could see me. In the answers the correct option BOTH, but isn't "hope" the state of the person? Like "like"?

Question

used to or would ?
Hello, guys!

I need your help.

Today we've been learning grammar about using used to and would. We had two cases:

1) when we have repeated actions in the past which don't happen now we use "used to or would" 
"I used to (would) play football when I was a small kid (by the way do we use small kid or little kid; I know when it comes to sizes we use "small", but I've heard "little")

2) we use only used to when talk about states in the past

I didn't use to like my classmates.

But in the exercise we had the sentences:

I used to/would hope that no one could see me. In the answers the correct option BOTH, but isn't "hope" the state of the person? Like "like"?

Answer

(1) "used to" is less formal than "would"

both "small" and "little" are grammatically correct before "kid" but "little kid" is common and "small kid" sounds more to reference size

(2) Both is the correct answer.  Hope is an action verb not a state.

Answer

Thanks guys!

Answer

"used to" an "little" are better in these sentences.  They sound more natural in these sentences.  "Would hope" conveys something slightly different to me, but I don't know how to explain it.  Here is a link to show you how "would hope" is generally used--https://hinative.com/en-US/questions/1031492

Answer

Hi buddy 
Used to is a bit more formal when compared to would.

Answer

Hello :)

Used to and would are both used to describe something that happened regularly in the past but doesn't happen any longer, as shown in the following two sentences about quitting smoking:

1. I used to smoke, but I quit last year. 
2. Whenever I craved a cigarette, I would chew gum instead. 
 
However, there are two important differences between used to and would. The first difference is that "would" should not be used unless it has already been established that the time frame is in the past, while used to does not require this. This example, with used to at the beginning, sounds natural:

1. I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV.
However, when used to is replaced with would, the same example becomes awkward and ungrammatical: 
2. *I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now I rarely watch TV.
But if the past time frame is established before would appears, would sounds fine. 
e.g When I was little, I would get up and watch cartoons every Saturday morning. Now I rarely watch TV.
 
The second difference between used to and would is that would is not used with stative verbs such as love, be, understand, and feel. Compare these two sentences with the stative verb love:

1. When I was a student, I used to love sleeping late on the weekends. (natural and grammatical)
2. *When I was a student, I would love sleeping late on weekends. (awkward and ungrammatical)

To summarize, the use of would is more restricted than that of used to. Therefore, if you aren't sure which one to use, it's best to choose used to.

Answers · 6

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