Writing for this Unit:

SYP Unit 15

Life in the UAE in the past

Grammar for this Unit:

"Used To"  Habitual Past

 Tag Questions

"Used To" shows a habit in the past.   It does not happen anymore.

Think about some things you did s a child.  Do you still do all of them now as adults?  Probably not.  Let's look at an example.

When she was a child, she used to play with dolls.  (but she doesn't anymore)

This girl played with dolls as a habit in the past.  She did it many, many times.

The girl grew up and is now an adult.  She doesn't play with dolls now.

We also use this to show that somethng in the past was a fact, but is not now.

Example:  Abdulla used to drink coffee.   (he doesn't now)

"Used To" is different that the simple past because it shows a habit.

Simple past shows something that happened before, but maybe it happened only one or two times, not many like a habit.    Let's look at an example.

	I used to go to the beach every summer when I was a  child.	Used To	Habit
	I went to the beach once when I was 11 years old.	Simple Past	One Time

"Used to" or "Use To"?

We use "Used To" for positive statements.

We use "Use To"  for negative statements and questions.

For example: I used to be in Semester 3.

For example: I didn't use to do my homework.

How do we use "Use To" in questions?   

( Did + Subject + Use To + Infinitive)

Like other past tense yes/ no questions you have learned about, we use "did".

The example on the right is for information questions.

(Question Word + Did + Use To + Infinitive)

Tag questions are sentences, with a very small question put on the end, like the price tag you see on a piece of clothing at a shop.

In tag questions, the most important thing is the bigger sentence part.   This is the part we answer.

If the sentence part is positive, and the tag is negative, we can expect a positive answer.

Look at the example in the picture above. The sentence is positive:   "It is hot today"

The answer is negative:   "isn't it?"   We expect the other person to agree with us:  "Yes, it is".

Look at this table for somemore examples: