Used to do, Be used to doing and Get used to doing

Where are the tomatoes? You mean the tomatoes. He's still getting used to my accent.

I'm Vicki and I'm British. And I'm Jay and I'm American.

I used to live in Cambridge in England. And I used to live in New York, but now we both

live in Philadelphia. It's a great city. Used to do: things that were true in the past,

but not true now. So use 'used to' to talk about past habits.

When I was a kid, I used to play baseball. I loved it. We didn't play baseball in England,

but my brothers used to play cricket. Jay, try some of this. What is it? Marmite.

We used to eat it all the time when I was growing up in England.

Now, here's the tricky thing. We also use 'used to' in another expression.

When we're accustomed to something, we say we are used to it.

Can you pass the sellotape? Huh? She means the scotch tape. Ah, it's British English.

Yeah, I'm used to it now. Ah, it's British English. Yeah, I'm used to it now.

Notice we use the verb 'be' here. We can also use the verb 'get', and that means growing

accustomed to something. Hey Jay, look at this. I've got new glasses.

He's still getting used to them. Ah! Have some more marmite Jay. No thank you.

It's nice when you get used to it. OK, let's compare the two structures. In England,

people drive on the left hand side of the road. So I used to drive on the left when

I lived there. But now I live in the US, where people drive

on the right. It was strange at first, and I had to get used to it.

I'm used to driving on the right side now. Ah, but sometimes you forget and get in on

the wrong side. OK. I'm getting used to driving on the right

- growing accustomed to it. Just one more thing. 'Used to' is followed

by a verb. 'Be used to' is followed by a noun. So if you want to use a verb after 'be used

to', you have to use a gerund, a noun form of the verb.

Coffee? Oh, yes please. Thank you. Sure. I'm used to drinking coffee in the mornings

now. In England I used to drink tea. Do you think we could sell marmite to Americans,

Jay? Americans are used to putting peanut butter

and jelly on their bread. And butter. Butter. Butter. Butter. Butter. Butter. Butter. Butter.