“Would, used to, be + always + -ing”

“Would, used to, be + always + -ing”

Introducción

Se usan "used to" y "would" para describir los hábitos o cosas que eran verdad o ciertas en el pasado pero que ya no ocurren o no son verdad en el presente.

• Se puede usar "used to" o "would" para describir las acciones repetidas en el pasado
• Sólo se usa "used to" para cosas ciertas en el pasado.

Ejemplos: 

"used to" o "would"

• I used to get up at 6am to go to school.
• I would get up at 6am to go to school.

used to

• I used to live in France. not I would live in France.
• I used to have a pet rabbit. not I would have a pet rabbit. 
  Son verdades del pasado

"used to" vs. "would" 
Compare las siguientes frases:

• I used to / would go camping when I was young. 
  "go" describe una acción repetida. 
   
• I used to love camping when I was young. 
  "love" describe una verdad/realidad.

Forma 1 - used to

Se usa "used to" con el infinitivo del verbo principal (sin "to)". En las formas negativas e interrogativas, se usa "did" con "use to" (no "used to"): 

Afirmativo	I / You / We / They  He / She / It	used to	like	chocolate.
Negativo		didn't use to  did not use to

interrogativo

Did

I / you / we / they  he / she / it

use to

like

chocolate?

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Práctica

Complete las frases con la forma afirmativa, negativa o interrogativa de "used to" usando el verbo entre paréntesis:

• Sarah  good at dancing. (be) 
   
• When I was young, I  fish but now I eat it all the time. (not eat) 
   
• I  piano lessons. (have) 
   
• Where did they  to school? (go) 
   

Forma 2 - would

Se usa "would" con el infinitivo del verbo principal (sin "to"): 

Afirmativo	I / You / We / They  He / She / It	would	eat	chocolate.
Negativo		wouldn't  would not

interrogativo

Would

I / you / we / they  he / she / it

eat

chocolate?

Se pueden contraer "would" y el pronombre sujeto:
I’d / you’d / we’d / they’d / she’d / he’d / it’d

---

Práctica

Complete las frases con la forma afirmativa, negativa o interrogativa de "would" con el verbo entre paréntesis:

• When I was learning to play the piano, I  every evening. (practise) 
   
• At university, Michael  until late at night. (study) 
   
• They  spicy food when they were young. (not eat) 
   
• Before you bought a car, how  you  to work? (travel) 

Be + always + -ing

A) They are always complaining.
B) They always complain.

Could you explain a difference between the two sentences? When should I use the first setence instead of the second setence?

Sentence A – using "always" with the present progressive to describe an habitual action – is an alternate way of saying sentence B.

Sometimes it's possible, and very expressive, to structure a sentence in the way that sentence A is structured to describe a recurring action of somebody. Often the speaker is complaining about the person s/he is describing.

Other examples like this:

"¢ I can't stand my roommate! He's always leaving dirty dishes in the sink.

"¢ Will you please let me finish my sentences? You're always interrupting me!

"¢ What? You forgot your keys again? You're always forgetting your keys! You should tie them around your neck with a string!

In each of the sentences above, you can, of course, also use the simple present tense, which would a statement of fact, not necessarily showing your attitude. In the sentences above, however, you are showing annoyance.
_______ 

It's also possible to show extreme approval with this construction, although it is less frequently used in this way::

"¢ Oh, Mary is so generous! She's always giving money and her time to charity organizations.

"¢ Bob is a born handyman. He's always looking for something to fix in his house.