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I used to wake up, have a really quick breakfast, basically roll out of bed and go to my class.
I would go in to work for about seven o'clock in the morning because I had a class at eight o'clock in the morning.
Hello and welcome to Learning English Grammar.
I'm Neil.
And I'm Pippa.
We just heard Phil and Beth reminiscing about the past.
Reminiscing means you talk about your memories in an enjoyable way.
And reminiscing is our topic today, Neil.
We'll learn some language you need to reminisce, such as used to, would and the past simple.
You can read along with this podcast using the transcript on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.
So Neil, have you been reminiscing recently?
I have.
I saw a photo of my kids when they were really young and my wife and I talked about what it used to be like when they were babies.
We didn't used to get much sleep, but they were a lot of fun.
Yeah, I bet.
They're not fun still now, but in a different way, I suppose.
How about you?
Yes I was reminiscing recently about when I was a teenager and I lived at home.
I've got three siblings, so it was really fun and we used to hang out together and we would play video games and things like that and it was just really fun and I miss it, even though I like having my own space.
OK, so I ask Phil and Beth to tell us about an enjoyable time of their life and talk us through a typical day.
Pay attention to the kind of language they use to reminisce about the past.
So when I was at university, where I lived was right next to where I studied.
So I used to wake up, have a really quick breakfast, basically roll out of bed and go to my class.
I would go to my lectures, go to my seminars.
And then usually we went out in the evening.
So my friends or my flatmates, people from my course, we would go out for a few drinks and yeah, just enjoy spending time together.
I lived in Paraguay and i worked as an english teacher, so i would have classes fairly early in the morning.
I would go in to work about seven o'clock in the morning because i had a class at eight o'clock in the morning.
I'd do that class an hour and a half.
I'd teach the class and then I'd finish, and then I'd get on a bus, and then I think I used to just go home and chill.
So, I heard used to a couple of times.
Beth said that she used to wake up and have a really quick breakfast.
Yes, I also heard would.
Phil said I would go into work for about seven in the morning.
And I heard the past simple.
Beth said we usually went out in the evening.
Lots to talk about.
Luckily, we have our resident grammar guru, Georgie, here to explain more.
Hello Neil and Pippa.
I've come to teach our listeners some grammar they can use to reminisce in English.
Sounds good.
Shall we start with would?
How do we use would to talk about the past?
OK, well, we heard Beth say, I would go to my lectures.
I would go to my lectures.
And Phil said, I would go into work for about seven in the morning.
I would go into work about seven o'clock in the morning.
So we can use would to talk about past habits, specifically actions.
So that's actions you did multiple times in the past.
So, Georgie, can you explain how we structure a sentence with would?
Yes, I can.
So, you put the subject first, then we have would plus the base form of the verb.
For example, years ago I would get up early for the school bus.
OK, so what about used to?
We heard Beth say, I used to wake up and have a really quick breakfast.
And Phil said, I used to go home and chill.
So, we can use used to in a similar way to would to talk about past habits.
Georgie, can you tell us more?
Yes, you're right that we can use used to in the same way as would to talk about past habits.
And it also has a similar structure.
So we have the subject, then used to plus a base verb.
So I would get up early for the school bus becomes I used to get up early for the school bus.
But there is a difference.
OK, Georgie, tell us about the difference.
Well, used to can also be used with what we call stative verbs.
These are verbs that are not really actions, they're states.
So verbs like be, believe, have…
So you can say I used to be a waitress when I was younger, or I used to have a cat, but you can't do this with would.
Yes, that's right.
So Georgie, you couldn't say I would be a waitress when I was younger or I would have a cat to talk about the past.
That's right.
So, I would plus action is fine.
I would plus a stative verb doesn't work.
Now, an important note is that we often use the contracted form of would.
So, I would becomes I'd, you would becomes you'd, etc.
And lastly, we heard Beth use the past simple to talk about past habits.
She said, usually we went out in the evening.
Yes, so you can use the past simple to talk about both past actions and past states.
So you can say, when I was little I took the bus to school.
And you could also say, when I was little I used to take the bus to school.
And you could say, when I was little I would take the bus to school.
That's right, you've got it.
OK, it's time for a game to practise what we've learnt.
Yes, I'm going to test you, Neil.
So I will read a sentence and your job is to decide is the grammar of the sentence correct or incorrect, and why?
Now, you can play along whilst you're listening.
Just try to answer before Neil does.
Right, first sentence Neil.
Beth used to go to university lectures.
That is correct.
Beth uses used to because it's a repeated action in the past.
That's right.
And the next one, Georgie would live in Spain a few years ago.
And that is wrong.
It is incorrect.
Live is a stative verb and we can't use would with stative verbs to talk about the past.
You are right.
OK, one more.
I played video games with my brother every day.
And that is correct.
We can also use the past simple to talk about repeated actions in the past.
That's it for this episode.
We've learned that you can't use would to talk about past states, but you can use used to.
And I've learned that Pippa used to play video games with her brother.
We'll be back next week to learn some more grammar tips.
In the meantime, you can test what you've learned in this episode with the worksheet and the quiz on our website, bbclearningenglishcom.
Goodbye.
