Past events:
Used to
1. Which of these did/didn’t you use to do when you were eight years old?
When I was eight I used to skate. I didn’t play video games.
1. ________________________________________________.
2. ________________________________________________.
3. ________________________________________________.
4. ________________________________________________.
5. ________________________________________________.
A famous rebel – but was he really?
MICK JAGGER went back to his old school recently – for the first
time since he left in 1961. He was invited to the school to open the
“Mick Jagger Performing Arts centre”, a new music and drama
department at Dartford Grammar School.
Jagger said that he was “honoured” that the centre was named
after him. But in a newspaper interview two days before he told a
journalist that in fact he hated school and that he used to be a
rebel.
He didn’t use to do the homework – “there was far too much” – and he was continually at
war with the teachers. He used to break the rules all the time, especially rules he thought
were stupid, about how to wear the school uniform and things like that. Once he even
organized a mass protest against “appalling” school dinners. “It was probably the greatest
contribution to school I ever made,” he said. Although he made a good start at school,
Jagger said his school work deteriorated because of “music and girls”.
However, according to one of his old school friends, musician Dick Taylor, this is not true.
He says that Mick didn’t use to be a rebel at all – he was quite bright and used to work
hard. He also used to do a lot of sport.
When Mick Jagger left school, he had seven O-levels and two A-levels, which at that time
were good qualifications – so perhaps Dick’s memory is better that Mick’s…
Adapted from a British newspaper
2. Underline six phrases with used to / didn’t use to in the text.
3. Read the text again and guess the meaning of the highlighted words.
Affirmative
Negative
I
You
He
She used to
He
wear glasses.
It
We
You
They
I
You
He
She didn’t use to
He
wear glasses.
It
We
You
They
Use used to / didn’t use to + infinitive for things that happened repeatedly or
over a long period of time in the past, but are usually not true now.

She used to play with her dolls when she was six.

I didn’t use to eat vegetables.
Questions and answers
Did Mary use to avoid sweets?
Yes, she did. / No, she didn’t.
What did you use to eat for breakfast?
Eggs and sausage. But not anymore.
4. Use the prompts to ask and answer questions about Sally.
Now
have short hair
wear formal clothes
wear contact lenses
be slim
live in Toronto
Then
have long hair
wear casual clothes
wear glasses
be a bit overweight
live in Woodstock
A: Did Sally use to have short hair then?
B: No, she didn’t. She used to have long hair.
5. Match sentences 1–5 with sentences a–e.
1
2
3
4
5
Jane used to eat lots of hamburgers.
Karen used to read lots of comics.
We often used to go to our flat on the beach.
Tony an I used to play table tennis.
We used to go to Greece for our holidays.
a
b
c
d
e
She reads teenage magazines now.
He still plays twice a week, but I don’t play anymore.
We don’t go there anymore. We prefer Italy now.
She stopped eating fast food a year ago.
We sold it a year ago and bought a bigger flat in town.
6. Complete the sentences. Use the present simple and the correct form of
used to.
1. That shop used to be (be) a clothes shop, but now it sells (sell) CDs.
2. You __________ (be) my friend, but now you only __________ (say) horrible
things about me!
3. We __________ (live) in a small flat in the city, but we __________ (not live)
there anymore.
4. His father __________ (not smoke) anymore, but when he was younger he
__________ (smoke) sixty cigarettes a day!
5. My favourite player __________ (not be) very good now, but he __________
(be) the best in the country.
6. I __________ (not listen) to reggae when I was younger, but now I __________
(love) it!
7. A: __________ (you/like) eggs when you were a child?
B: No, but now I __________ (love) them.
8. A: __________ (your father/play) football when he was younger?
B: Yes, he did – but he __________ (be) too old now!