• What it means (qué significa)
• Negatives (negativos)
• Questions (preguntas)
• Used to vs. past simple
• Note about "used to" and the verb "use"

What it means (qué significa)

In Spanish, you use the pretérito imperfecto to talk about habits you had in the past.

🔹 En español, usamos el pretérito imperfecto para hablar de hábitos que teníamos en el pasado.

Antes siempre comía pizza los viernes. (In the past, I always used to eat pizza on Fridays).

Antes vivía en Madrid. (In the past, I used to live in Madrid).

In English, one of the ways to express this is using used to [ju:st tu:] followed by the verb in the infinitive.

🔹 En inglés, una de las maneras de expresar esto es usando used to [ju:st tu:] seguido del verbo en infinitivo.

I used to eat pizza on Fridays. (Antes comía pizza los viernes).

I used to live in Madrid. (Antes vivía en Madrid).

She used to play the piano. (Antes ella tocaba el piano).

Negatives (negativos)

For negatives, we use didn't use to:

🔹 Para las oraciones negativas, usamos didn't use to:

I didn't use to like vegetables. (Antes no me gustaban las verduras).

She didn't use to cook. (Antes ella no cocinaba).

In the negative form, used loses the final D and becomes use.

🔹 En la forma negativa, used pierde la D final y se escribe use.

Questions (preguntas)

For questions, we use did ... use to:

🔹 Para las oraciones interrogativas, usamos did ... use to:

Did you use to live in Barcelona? (¿Antes vivías en Barcelona?)

Did she use to play the piano? (¿Antes ella tocaba el piano?)

Used to vs. past simple

When we talk about habits in the past, we can normally use either used to or the past simple. The meaning is almost the same, but used to emphasizes that it was a habit. It's like the difference between solía comer and comía in Spanish.

🔹 Cuando hablamos de hábitos en el pasado, normalmente podemos usar tanto used to como el past simple. El significado es casi el mismo, pero used to enfatiza que era un hábito.

I used to eat pizza on Fridays. => emphasizes the habit

I ate pizza on Fridays. => simple description

However, for one-time actions, we cannot use used to. We can only use the past simple.

🔹 Sin embargo, para acciones puntuales, no podemos usar used to. Solamente podemos usar el past simple.

Yesterday I went to the gym. (Ayer fui al gimnasio).

Note about "used to" and the verb "use"

It is important not to confuse used to with the verb to use [ju:z] (usar). Used to is pronounced [ju:st tu:], with a clear T at the end of used, and it has nothing to do with the verb to use.

🔹 Es importante no confundir used to con el verbo to use [ju:z] (usar). Used to se pronuncia [ju:st tu:], con una T clara al final de used, y no tiene nada que ver con el verbo usar.