Grammar — Past and present habits
- We use the Present or Past Continuous + always / constantly / forever to talk about a habit which is repeated more than usual, which the speaker finds unexpected or annoying: She’s always complaining about the weather. (present)
- She was forever arguing with her parents when she was younger. (past)
- We use will/would + infinitive to talk about behaviour which is typical or characteristic of the person. They can describe both pleasant and annoying habits: She’ll turn up at 11 o'clock and act as if nothing’s wrong. (present)
- We’d spend the afternoons reading. (past)
- We use used to + infinitive to talk about a past state or repeated past actions:
- I used to feel very negative about my job.
- At our old house I used to spend a lot of time with my friends.
- Would is not used to talk about past states.
- We can introduce new topics with used to and we do not need to specify a time:
- I used to eat a lot of chips and burgers, but now I eat healthy food. (NOT I’d eat …)
- We use would when the topic has been established and we usually specify the time:
- My dad used to work nights. He would come home at six in the morning and we ’d have breakfast together, then he used to take me to school.
- Most texts describing habits contain a mixture of these forms.