Common English Mistakes: USED TO or I AM USED TO?

Do you know the difference between these two phrases?

• I used to play football in the morning
• I am used to playing football in the morning

Even though these two phrases look very similar, they have a very different meaning. In today’s episode of RealLife TV you are going to discover the difference between these two commonly confused expressions and get a lot of examples on using them.

Also see related articles and videos:

• Learn English with Music – Somebody that I used to know
• The Difference Between “Used to” and “Usually”

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Transcript

Aw yeah, what’s up RealLife fans?

Today I’m going to teach you guys all about the difference between I used to and I am used to, so stick around.

Is this RealLife?

To BE USED TO

So, when I use the phrase “I am used to something,” it means that I am accustomed to that situation.

“I am used to the weather in this country.” “I am used to the food in this country.”

If I’m going to use a verb, the verb will always be in the ING form, for example, “I am used to waking up early,” or “I am used to catching the bus everyday.”

It means I am accustomed to those situations.

USED TO

Now, this is very different to when I say “I used to do something.”

When I take away the verb to be, and I just say “I used to play soccer,” this is referring to an habitual action that I did in the past and don’t do anymore.

So, I can say, “I used to play soccer every Saturday when I lived in Australia. Now, I don’t do that anymore.”

So this is a habitual action which I did in the past and don’t do anymore.

When we talk about these actions, it’s generally in reference to that time in your life that is not connected with now.

For example, “when I was a child,” “when I lived in that neighborhood,” “when I worked at that company, I used to drive a car everyday.”

That’s it!

Another really great way to differentiate to be used to and I used to is when you look at the question form of each.

If I’m referring to an action that you are accustomed to, that I am used to, I’m going to use the verb to be, and I’m just going to switch the formation. “Are you used to?” “Are you used to the weather in your country?” “Are you used to a food in that country?”

As opposed to when I use the “I used to do something,” I’m going to use the do auxiliary. “Did you use to?”

So, I’m going to use the do in the past. “Did you use to play football?” “Did you use to get up early?” “Did you use to study English?”

So, when I use the did, the used to is actually conjugated in the present simple, so I take off the D in the end. “Did you use to play guitar?”

So, hopefully that helped you guys differentiate I am used to with I used to.

And don’t forget to subscribe to the RealLife TV where you’ll get all of our new videos and also look in the box below which will take you to our website RealLifeGlobal.com and there you’ll see all of our newest content, all of our old content too, as well, and we have a lot of great freebies that you guys can get from the website.

So, thanks a lot for tuning in today, and see you next time on RealLife TV.

If you enjoyed this video lesson, check out some of our other videos:

• 70 Dating and Relationship Words and Expressions in English 
• Secrets for Better Pronunciation: The Difference Between E and I Sounds 
• Chow Time: Expressions Related to Eating
• 6 Funny Ways to Say Something is Expensive in English 
• How to Use the Expressions “I’m Just Saying” and “It’s All Good”