Used To、Would 和 Be Used To：三个长得像却毫不相干的结构

1三个看似相关、实则无关的结构

英语给学习者准备了三个围绕 used 构成的结构，它们并不是同一个概念的不同说法。两个描述过去，一个描述熟悉程度；一旦混用，句子在母语者听来会真的产生歧义。

• used to + base verb — a past habit or state that has stopped: I used to smoke
• would + base verb — a repeated past ACTION only: Every summer we would drive to the coast
• be used to + -ing / noun — familiarity, at any time: I'm used to the noise now
• get used to + -ing / noun — the process of becoming familiar: I'm getting used to the weather

陷阱在于 used to 和 be used to 看上去几乎一模一样，含义却毫无交集。“I used to drive”表示我现在不开车了；“I'm used to driving”表示开车对我来说很平常，而且我多半还在开。一词之差，含义正好相反。

Tip: 最可靠的判断信号在后面。如果跟的是动词原形（used to drive），那是过去的习惯；如果跟的是 -ing（used to driving），那是熟悉。养成往右看、而不是往左看的习惯。

2Used to：已经结束的过去

这是最常用的结构，也是多数学习者最早接触的一个。它的含义里带着一层教材常常一笔带过的额外意味。

used to + 动词原形，所有人称形式都不变：I used to、she used to、they used to。它只存在于过去——不存在用来表达现在习惯的“I use to”，而这是极常见的学习者错误。表达现在的习惯，英语用一般现在时加 usually：I usually walk to work。

它的含义是一个已经不再成立的过去习惯或状态，而这层对比正是重点。“I used to play the piano”同时告诉听者两件事：我当时弹，现在不弹了。如果你现在还在弹，这句话就会误导对方——尽管语法上挑不出毛病。

• Past habits — I used to go running every morning
• Past states — There used to be a cinema on this street
• Past situations — She used to be really shy
• Things that are no longer true — We used to be close

Tip: used to 也可以用于一段连续的长时期，不限于重复的动作：“I used to be a teacher”是一个持续的状态，完全正确。

3Would：只能用于重复的动作

would 可以替代 used to，但只能替代它两项功能中的一项。这条限制是整篇文章里最有用的一个事实。

原因在于 would 描述的是一再发生的事——它需要有“重复”可以依附。而住在某地、性格害羞、拥有一辆车、认识某人这类状态并不重复，它们只是持续存在。would 没有可以反复计次的对象。

• We would go to the beach every summer. — correct, repeated action
• My father would read to us at bedtime. — correct, repeated action
• I would have a bicycle when I was young. — wrong; use I used to have
• She would be a nurse. — wrong; use She used to be
• There would be a shop here. — wrong; use There used to be
• He would always forget his keys. — correct, repeated action

would 几乎总是伴随一个表示重复的时间表达出现：every summer、on Sundays、whenever it rained、always。如果你的句子里没有这类标记，用 would 多半是错的。

Tip: 一条实用的保险规则：凡是 would 正确的地方，used to 都不会错；但 used to 正确的地方，would 常常是错的。拿不准时就用 used to。

4决定二者取舍的状态规则

既然整个区分都建立在“动作还是状态”上，就有必要弄清楚哪些动词属于哪一边。

• be — I used to be nervous, not I would be nervous
• have (possess) — I used to have long hair
• know — I used to know her well
• like, love, hate — I used to like coffee
• live — I used to live abroad
• own, belong — We used to own a boat
• believe, think (opinion) — I used to believe that
• there is / there are — There used to be a park here

• go, walk, drive — We would drive there every Sunday
• play — He would play football after school
• visit, meet — They would visit us at Christmas
• read, write, cook — She would cook on Fridays
• complain, argue, laugh — He would complain about everything

注意它和你可能已经熟悉的进行时规则是重叠的：大体上，不能加 -ing 的动词也不能用 would。如果“I am knowing”听着别扭，那么用来表达过去习惯的“I would know”同样别扭。一个判断标准，覆盖两个语法点。

Tip: 如果你能在句首加上 every 而句子依然说得通，那就是动作，would 可用。

5Be used to：一个完全不同的结构

真正的混乱大多发生在这里，因为词形几乎相同，语法却毫不相干。

be + used to + 名词或 -ing。其中的 be 随时态和人称变化：I am used to、she was used to、they will be used to。关键在于，后面跟的绝不会是动词原形。

它的含义是“熟悉”：某件事对你来说不再陌生。“I'm used to the cold”表示寒冷不再让我难受；“She's used to working nights”表示上夜班对她来说很正常。它完全不涉及“过去已结束”，反而通常暗示这件事还在继续。

把它们并排看：“I used to work nights”（我现在不上夜班了）对比“I'm used to working nights”（我还在上，而且没问题）。词形几乎相同，含义完全相反。这一对值得当作整体背下来。

• I'm used to the traffic here. — noun follows
• He's used to getting up early. — -ing follows
• She wasn't used to the food at first. — past tense of be
• You'll get used to it. — future
• I'm used to work early. — wrong; needs working

Tip: 用替换名词来检验。“I'm used to the early starts”成立，这就证明 to 是介词——而介词后面永远不接动词原形。

6Get used to：适应的过程

这一家族的第三个成员描述的是过渡过程，而不是已完成的状态，谈论变化时非常好用。

be used to 是终点，get used to 是路程。“I'm used to the weather”表示我已经适应了；“I'm getting used to the weather”表示我正在适应；“I got used to it”表示适应已经完成。

• It took me a year to get used to the climate.
• You'll get used to the accent eventually.
• I'm still getting used to my new job.
• She never got used to living alone.
• I can't get used to this keyboard.

后面跟什么，规则完全相同：名词或 -ing，绝不用动词原形。get 随时态变化：get、got、getting、will get。

对任何搬到别国生活的人来说，这三个结构基本覆盖了描述这段经历所需的全部表达：过去在老家常做什么、现在正在适应什么、以及终于适应了什么。

Tip: become used to 也存在，含义与 get used to 相同，但明显更正式。口语里 get 才是常规选择。

7疑问句和否定句里的 -d 为什么消失了

这个细节在各个水平段都会绊倒学习者，而它遵循的规则你在英语别处早就学过。

这和“Did you went”之所以错，是完全相同的机制。只要 did 出现，后面的动词就不再带过去时标记。尽管 used to 看起来像一个固定短语，它在这一点上和其他动词毫无二致。

• Did you use to play tennis? — not Did you used to
• I didn't use to enjoy reading. — not I didn't used to
• She used to work here. — positive, keeps the -d
• Didn't he use to live in Madrid? — base form after did

还有一种不用 did 的否定形式：“I used not to like it”，常缩写成“usedn't to”。两者语法上都正确，但听起来都明显过时。请用 didn't use to。

Tip: 有些文体指南承认“didn't used to”是一种既有变体，你在印刷品里也会见到。但在任何会被评分的文字里，写 use to 更保险。

8什么时候一般过去时才是更好的选择

刚学会 used to 的人有时会把它套到每一个过去句上。它的适用范围要窄得多，一般过去时仍然是默认选项。

• I used to go to Spain three times. — wrong; use I went to Spain three times
• I used to live there for six years. — questionable; prefer I lived there for six years
• I used to visit her yesterday. — wrong; use I visited her yesterday
• I used to go to Spain every summer. — correct, indefinite repetition
• When I was a child, I used to be afraid of dogs. — correct, past state

规律在于 used to 排斥数字和确切日期。“Every summer”可以，因为那是习惯；“three times in 2019”不行，因为那是一串可数的事件，属于一般过去时的地盘。

对于单次完成的事件，一般过去时是唯一选项。used to 需要有重复或持续可供描述。

Tip: 只要能加上一个数字或具体日期，你要的几乎一定是一般过去时。

9Would 在叙事与怀旧中的作用

撇开语法不谈，would 还带有一层 used to 没有的味道，懂得这一点能让你的英语显得更有分寸。

would 带着温暖的追忆感。它是怀旧的时态，作者用它推开一扇通往记忆中日常的窗：“On Sunday mornings my grandfather would sit by the window with his newspaper. He would read the whole thing, front to back, and he would never say a word until he'd finished.”

注意这段话的运作方式：通常由 used to 开启回忆，再由 would 承载细节。“We used to spend every August at my aunt's house. We would swim in the morning, eat far too much at lunch, and play cards until it got dark.”这种先用 used to 立框、再用 would 铺陈的顺序，是英语写作中一个真实存在的文体套路。

这也解释了为什么整段只用 used to 会显得平板重复。交替使用能带来母语作者的节奏感，也是考试中提升记叙类写作的低成本手段。

Tip: 备考雅思或 CELPIP 口语时，用一个 used to 领起童年日常、再跟上两三个 would，是既能展示语言广度又不易出错的稳妥做法。

10到了高级阶段仍然改不掉的错误

这个领域有四类错误在规则弄懂之后仍会长期存在，而且成因各不相同。

把“working”写成“I'm used to work”。这是最常见的一类，根源在于把 to 读成不定式标记。解决办法不是补更多规则，而是意识到这里的 to 是介词，正如“look forward to seeing you”里那样。

用 would 描述过去的状态。“I would have a dog when I was young”听着顺耳，是因为 would 看起来像一个通用的过去标记。它不是——它需要一个重复的动作。这类错误能长期存活，是因为没人纠正：句子照样听得懂。

书面语里的“Didn't used to”。口语中两者无法区分，因此没有任何听觉反馈来纠正拼写。它只会在写下来并被评分时才暴露。

对仍然成立的事使用 used to。一个在职员工说“I used to work at Google”，造成的是真正的误解，而不是小疏忽。无论你是否有意，这个结构都带着“现在不是了”。

Tip: 现在就把这两句大声读出来：“I'm used to waking up early”和“I used to wake up early”。各读几遍。亲耳听见自己造出这个对比，比反复看规则有用得多。

11二十五个句子，逐句改错

先遮住右边，自己改一遍再看答案。这些句子取自真实学习者写作和口语中最高频的错误。

• I'm used to work at night → I'm used to working at night
• I would have a bicycle when I was a child → I used to have a bicycle when I was a child
• Did you used to live here? → Did you use to live here?
• I didn't used to like olives → I didn't use to like olives
• I use to go swimming every week (present) → I usually go swimming every week
• She would be very shy → She used to be very shy
• There would be a bakery on this corner → There used to be a bakery on this corner
• I'm used to get up early → I'm used to getting up early
• It took me months to get used to drive on the left → …to get used to driving on the left
• I used to live in Berlin and I still live there → I've lived in Berlin for years
• I used to go to Italy three times → I went to Italy three times
• He would know my father → He used to know my father
• I used to visit her last week → I visited her last week
• We would own a small farm → We used to own a small farm
• I am used to the noise now, it doesn't bother me → correct as written
• She is used to speak in public → She is used to speaking in public
• I would be afraid of the dark → I used to be afraid of the dark
• Are you used to the weather yet? → correct as written
• I didn't use to smoking → I didn't use to smoke
• My grandmother would bake bread every Sunday → correct as written
• I'm getting used to work with him → I'm getting used to working with him
• There used to have a shop here → There used to be a shop here
• He used to be liking football → He used to like football
• I will used to it soon → I will get used to it soon
• We used to spend every August there, and we would swim every day → correct as written

Tip: 其中有三句本来就是对的。如果你把它们改了，说明你在过度套用规则——这和不懂规则是两种不同的问题。

12在真实语流中听出区别

这组结构特别容易从真实内容里收集，因为只要有人谈起自己的过去，它们就会出现——而大多数访谈和相当一部分播客都在做这件事。

任何访谈只要问到“what was it like growing up?”，一分钟之内就会给你一串 used to 和 would。任何与移居他国者的对话都会给你 be used to 和 get used to。你不需要费力去找，你需要的是留意。

听力还能补上规则补不了的一课：弱读。自然语流中 used to 会压缩成接近“yoost-uh”的音，而 be used to 听起来几乎一模一样。如果你只在纸上见过它们，正常语速下就抓不住——而听不见的结构是学不会的。

• 找一段有人讲述童年或移居经历的访谈
• 每听到一次 used to，判断后面跟的是动词原形还是 -ing
• 每听到一次 would，检查它是否挂在一个重复的动作上
• 把整句都存下来，因为这些结构脱离上下文毫无意义
• 用一次 used to 和两次 would，复述一段你自己的回忆

Tip: FlexiLingo 为 YouTube 和播客加上可交互字幕，点任意单词就能看到词义和 CEFR 等级，并连同它所在的整句一起保存——这在这里尤其重要，因为结构后面跟什么，正是这一课的全部内容。