“I USED TO”, “I GOT USED TO”, “I’M USED TO”: What’s the difference?!

Hi, everyone. My name is Emma, and in today's

video, I am going to teach you the difference

between "used to", "get used to", and "be used

to". Many learners have trouble with these

different phrases, and the reason is they are so

similar, but they have very different meanings.

So, let's get started by talking a little bit

about the difference between "used to" and "get

used to". Okay, when we talk about "used to",

this is the one you might already know. We use

"used to" to talk about the past. We use "used

to" to talk about something we did in the past.

Usually, it is a repeated action. This means

it happened more than once, or it was a routine

in the past. I also want you to pay close attention to my pronunciation. "Used to",

okay? So, even though there's an "ed", we're not pronouncing it like "used",

we're pronouncing it as one syllable as "use",

"used to". Okay, so now let's talk a little bit

about "get used to", and then I'm going to

give you some examples so you can understand

the differences between these two phrases.

So, "used to", we use to talk about the past.

"Get used to" can be used to talk about the past, the present, or the future.

We use "get used to" when we are talking

about something we have become accustomed to,

something we've become familiar with, something

that might have been strange at first,

but then it became normal. These types of

situations are when we use the phrase "get used

to". So, let's look at some examples. So, we'll

start with "used to". In the past, you see I have

the music symbols here. How do you think I used to

listen to music? Well, when I was in high school,

I used to listen to CDs. For those of you who are

really young, you might not know what a CD is,

so let me grab one for you. I have here my Guns

N' Roses CD. So, I used to use a CD player,

and I used to lie down on my bed and listen to Guns N' Roses. I'd listen to their CD.

So, that's how we use "used to". Now, you might

see here a funny picture. I'm not a great artist.

I'm a terrible artist, actually, but this is

supposed to be me, and that thing on my head,

that's a mask. So, during the coronavirus, at the

beginning, everyone had to start wearing masks

in my city, like this blue one. At first, it was

very strange. It felt uncomfortable. It was weird.

I was not used to it. But then, because I wore

the mask every day, it became normal for me.

I became accustomed to it. So, in this case,

what I can say is I got used to wearing a mask

during coronavirus. So, now we're going to look

at some more examples of the difference between

"used to" and "get used to" to really help

you understand the differences between these

different phrases. Okay, so now let's look at

some examples of "used to" and "get used to".

These examples will really show you the

difference in the meaning of these two phrases.

So, and actually, I have some things to show

off in order to demonstrate "used to". The first

sentence, "I used to read this book." What book am I talking about? Let me go grab it.

Okay, so this is a book from my childhood. I

used to love this book. It's called Mr. Bell's

Fix-It Shop. When I was a child, I used to read

this book. So, notice how we have "used to",

and then we have a verb, "read". Is there anything

strange about the verb "read", or do we have -ing

at the end? Do we do anything with this verb? No.

It's actually really simple. We keep this verb

in the base form. We don't do anything to it. "I used to read this book."

"When I was a child, I used to watch cartoons."

Now, I don't, really, because I don't have time,

but when I was a child, I used to watch cartoons.

Every Saturday morning, I used to watch cartoons.

So, again, I have my verb here, "used to", and then the verb that comes next, "watch",

is in its base form. We don't do anything to

it. We just use the base form of the verb,

nice and simple. Okay, this is a fact for you about me. "When I was in high school,

I used to have red hair." So, "I used to have

red hair." Again, we're talking about something

in the past that is not true now, and if you look at the verb I'm using, "have",

we are not putting it in the past tense. We're

using the base form of the verb. Why? Well,

"used to" is actually in the past tense, so we don't need to do anything to this verb.

It's just in the base form. So, if you like

math, maybe you like math more than English,

I have here our formula. We have "used to" plus

a verb, and that's how we talk about repeated

actions or routines in the past. So, now, this is very different from "get used to".

So, this is true. "When I was younger, I used

to wake up maybe 9am. I used to wake up late.

Now, for work, I have to wake up at 6am. I got

used to waking up at 6am." This means it's normal

for me. It's my habit. It's easy for me. "I

got used to waking up at 6am." So, it's normal.

What do you notice about the verb here? You might notice that after "used to",

the verb ends in -ing. Another way to say this is we use a gerund after "used to".

Gerund is the fancy grammar way of saying a verb with -ing.

And this is in the past tense. How do we know? Well, instead of using "get",

I'm using the past tense verb here, "got". So, "used to" stays the same, but our verb

"get" becomes "got" in the past tense. Okay, let's look at the present tense.

"I am getting used to my new job. I started

a new job recently. At first, it was strange.

I didn't know anyone. I didn't know where

things were, but now, after a couple of weeks,

things are becoming normal for me. So, I can say, "I am getting used to my new job."

So, you may notice that we have "getting", "am

getting used to". In this case, we're using the

present continuous tense. You can use any tense

with "get". This is just one example. And again,

the meaning here is that things used to be

strange at the beginning, but now they're normal.

"I'm accustomed to my new job." And again, you'll notice we have "ing", or sorry,

in this case, we don't actually have a second verb. We actually have

a noun. So, after "get used to", you can have

a verb with "ing" or you can have a noun.

You have a choice. Let's look at another example of "get used to".

This time, we'll use this in the future. "I will get used to living in the city."

So, maybe, as an example, my cousin lives in the countryside and she plans to move

to the city. She might say, "I will get used to living in the city."

So, again, we have "will", this just means

we're talking about the future, "get used to",

and then we have a verb here, "living". The verb

after "get used to" ends in "ing". This means that

in the future, my cousin thinks things will

be very strange at first, moving to the city,

but eventually, it will become normal for her.

She'll become accustomed to living in a city.

So, here is the math formula for "get used to".

So, actually, I'm going to add the word "get" here.

"Get used to" plus verb "ing". Okay? So, that's how these are different.

This, the base form of the verb follows, whereas

in this case, verb with "ing" is what comes after

"get used to". So, now we are going to find out

about "be used to". Okay, so we've talked about

"used to" and we've talked about "get used to".

What about "be used to"? What does that mean?

Well, the nice thing is "be used to" actually has

the same meaning as "get used to". So, I'm going

to just draw an arrow because you can use either

of these, "be used to" or "get used to". So,

I'm going to give some examples of "be used to".

Again, "get used to" and "be used to" mean to

become accustomed to something, to become

familiar with something when something is strange

or unusual, but then it becomes normal. That's when we use these words.

So, our verb "be" can take many forms. I'm

going to show you some of the forms it can take.

We have "I'm used to" or "I am used to". In this case, "am" is a form of the "be" verb,

and notice we have "used to", "I'm used to",

and what follows "used to"? We have "it". So,

similarly to "get used to", "be used to" can be followed by a noun or a pronoun.

Let's look at another example. "You are used to

waking up at 6 a.m." So, we have here our "be"

verb. In this case, in the simple present tense,

it's "are". We have "used to", and then we have

a verb, "waking up". "Waking up", you'll notice,

ends in -ing. So, it's similar to "get used to".

Verbs we use with "be used to" end in -ing,

or we can say they end in a gerund. A gerund

is a verb that ends in -ing. Okay, let's look at

another example. "He is used to studying at night."

So, this means this man, "he", he is accustomed

to studying at night. It's normal for him.

"He is used to studying at night." So, we have

here our "be" verb, "is", then we have "used to",

and then we have another verb, "studying". You'll notice it ends in -ing. So, again,

when a verb comes after "be used to", it ends

in -ing. Okay, so these are just some examples,

and again, these are the same. "Used to" is the

one that is different. So, thank you for watching

this video. I hope you've enjoyed it. It might

take some time to get used to the differences

between "used to" and "get used to" and "be used

to". If you want to practice this, I recommend

coming and visiting our website at www.engvid.com.

There, you can find a quiz about this material.

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