We use “used to + base verb” for things that were true or regular in the past but are not true now: I used to live in a village. We used to play outside every day. It gives the idea “but not any more”.

Negative: didn’t use to + base verb: I didn’t use to like fish. Question: Did you use to…? Where did you use to live? Notice that after “did” and “didn’t” the form is “use to”, without -d.

We cannot use “used to” for a specific time or a number of times: “I went to Paris twice” (not “used to”). For present habits, use the present simple.

We use the past continuous for actions in progress at a moment in the past, and for the background of a story. Form: was / were + verb-ing: I was sleeping, they were playing.

Often it goes with the past simple: “I was walking home when it started to rain.” The long action (past continuous) was interrupted by the short action (past simple). With “while” we use the past continuous: While I was cooking, he was reading.

Negative: I wasn’t listening. Question: What were you doing at eight o’clock yesterday?

To compare the past with the present use: used to … but now …, In those days … nowadays …, … is different now, … has changed. Example: “In those days we wrote letters. Nowadays we send voice messages.”

• Where did you live when you were small?
• What did you use to play as a child?
• Who did you use to play with?
• What was your favourite toy?
• What was your favourite food as a child?
• Did you use to go to a nursery or kindergarten?
• What was your first school like?
• Who was your best friend at school?
• Did you use to read fairy tales?
• What did you use to be afraid of?
• What was your favourite subject?
• What did you use to do in the summer?

• Tell me about a happy memory from your childhood. What can you hear, smell and feel in it?
• What did you use to do that you don’t do now?
• What was your favourite teacher like?
• Describe the home where you grew up.
• What songs, stories or sounds remind you of your childhood?
• Who looked after you when you were small? What were they like?
• What did you use to want to be when you grew up?
• Tell me about a time you got into trouble.
• What was a typical Sunday like in your family?
• What were you doing at this time yesterday?
• What traditions did your family use to have?
• What did you use to eat on holidays?

• How has childhood changed since your parents were children?
• Do you think children today have a better life than you had? Why?
• Which things from your childhood do you miss?
• What did your childhood teach you?
• How do fairy tales influence us as adults?
• What do you want to do differently from the way your parents brought you up?
• What is the most important thing a child needs?
• If you could meet yourself as a child, what would you say?

• Where did you use to go on holiday as a child?
• What did you use to eat at school?
• Who was your best friend when you were small?
• What games did you use to play?
• What was your school like?
• What were you doing when you first used a smartphone?
• What did you use to watch on TV?
• Who was your favourite teacher? What was he or she like?
• What was your home like when you were ten?
• What did you use to be afraid of?
• What did you want to be when you grew up?
• What was happening in your life exactly five years ago?

• Was your childhood happy? What made it so?
• Is life better now than 20 years ago?
• What did people use to do before the internet?
• Do you miss anything from the past?
• What was a bad habit you used to have?
• How were holidays different when your parents were young?
• What would you tell your younger self?
• Which was better: the past or the present? Why?

← Unit 7: Yesterday and Last Weekend  ·  Extra questions  ·  Unit 9: Travel and Transport →