• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

NativeSpeakerOnline

Learn natural English online

  • LEARNING ENGLISH
    • Confusing words in English
    • English grammar
    • Typical mistakes in English
  • IELTS SPEAKING TIPS
  • CONTACT
Talking about your childhood

Talking about your childhood

November 15, 2013 By Nestor 7 Comments

In the IELTS speaking test, you might need to talk about your childhood, for example what games you played, what it was like growing up in your hometown, where you spent your holidays, etc. In English, we often use the structures used to + infinitive and would + infinitive to talk about things that we did regularly in the past, but not now.

Let’s look at how to use these structures.

used to + infinitive

We use used to + infinitive when we talk about things that happened regularly in the past but do not happen now. In the negative we say didn’t use to + infinitive:

  • I used to play in the snow every winter.
  • I used to get up early to go to school.
  • I didn’t use to go to bed so late.

We can use this structure with both states and actions:

  • I didn’t use to have any responsibilities, but now I have a family. (STATE)
  • I used to go to school every day, but now I work. (ACTION)

would + infinitive

When we are telling a story or recalling a situation from a long time ago, we often prefer to use would + infinitive to describe repeated behaviour in the past. However, both would and used to are possible:

  • I remember growing up in home town. My life was completely different. I would get up early every day and go to school. In the winter, I would play in the snow with my friends.

Note that we can only use would to describe past events and actions. It is not usually used with states. To describe past states we can only use used to:

  • I didn’t use to have any responsibilities. (NOT I wouldn’t have any responsibilities.)
Opt In Image
Improve your grammar
Study important grammar tips for IELTS

You can watch lots of examples of good grammar in Lectures #18 and #19 of the IELTS Speaking Masterclass course.

Take the Course

Filed Under: IELTS Speaking Tips, Tips for Band 7-9 Tagged With: Grammar tips

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. chotbi says

    November 18, 2013 at 3:40 pm

    Thank you
    It’s realy helpful
    I didn’t used to make difference betwen I used and I would when I spoke about actions or states.
    Thanks

    Reply
  2. zaks adam says

    November 20, 2013 at 9:02 am

    i really appreciate it

    Reply
  3. firouz says

    February 18, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    hi
    it is really useful and i do appreciate.

    Reply
  4. Jassica says

    February 24, 2014 at 5:38 am

    Thanks
    Its very helpful
    But i want to know about different between state and action .

    Reply
  5. AmisiKabue says

    August 3, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    Hi
    thanks, it is very important for us…

    Reply
  6. bihou smile says

    March 31, 2015 at 8:32 pm

    yes me also

    Reply
  7. Sana says

    January 29, 2017 at 10:28 pm

    Hi
    Thank you for good information. It’s very important for us

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Categories

  • IELTS Speaking Tips
    • General tips
    • Other stuff
    • Tips for Band 6.5
    • Tips for Band 7-9

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Check your inbox now to confirm your subscription. If you don't receive my email, check your spam folder.

IELTS Tag cloud

  • Grammar tips
  • IELTS preparation advice
  • IELTS scoring criteria
  • IELTS Speaking test
  • IELTS speaking test strategies
  • IELTS Speaking tip cards
  • Pronunciation
  • Questions from candidates
  • Sample answers
  • Scary situations
  • Speaking test Part 1
  • Speaking test Part 2
  • Speaking test Part 3
  • Test rules and procedure
  • Topical videos
  • Vocabulary tips

Youtube videos

  • Contact
  • Terms of use and privacy policy

Footer

IELTS Speaking Tips on Facebook

Facebook

Copyright © 2021 ยท NativeSpeakerOnline