what is the difference between simple past and used to?
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Past simple. We can always use the past simple as an alternative to used to or would to talk about past states or habits. The main difference is that the past simple doesn't emphasise the repeated or continuous nature of the action or situation. ... If something happened only once, we must use the past simple.
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The simple past tense, sometimes called the preterite, is used to talk about a completed action in a time before now. The simple past is the basic form of past tense in English. The time of the action can be in the recent past or the distant past and action duration is not important.
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2 Answers. You seem to believe that used to is only used to indicate habitual actions, while used for is only used for indicating instrumental actions. This is only half-right. While used for is restricted to instruments or tools, used to can be used with both senses.
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There is an important difference between the simple present and present continuous tenses. The simple present tense is used to talk about things that we do all the time. ... The present continuous tense is used to talk about things that are happening at the moment of speaking.
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The Past Perfect Continuous Tense is used in the same way as the Present Perfect Continuous Tense, but it refers to a time in the past. On the other hand, Present Perfect Continuous Tense refers to the time in the present ( now ).
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'Would' is only good for actions or situations that were repeated many times; 'Used to' is good for any action or situation that continued for a period of time in the past, including repeated actions or situations. ... It's simply a situation in the past.
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1 Answer. The past tense is used to talk about what has already happened. The passive voice is used when you want to emphasise what an action is done to, rather than what has done the action (active).
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1. “Would” is used for describing actions or situations which were repeated again and again; “used to” is used for describing any actions or situations which were extended or continued for a certain period of time including repeated actions. For example, He used to dislike his job.
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In standard English, the past participle form of eat is always eaten. Ate is the simple past form.
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These two tenses are both used to talk about things that happened in the past. However we use past perfect to talk about something that happened before another action in the past, which is usually expressed by the past simple. For example: ... The past perfect is often used with already, yet, just and even.
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“I visited the zoo yesterday” would be correct. With a specific time word like “yesterday,” we typically use the simple past. You can use “had visited” only if you are going on to say what you have done since then. “Had visited” implies a more remote past.
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Events in progress in the past We use the past continuous to talk about events and temporary states that were in progress around a certain time in the past. We use the past simple to talk about events, states or habits at definite times in the past.
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“Written” and “wrote” are both forms of the verb "to write." Wrote is the simple past tense of "to write." Written is the past participle of "to write."
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Usually refers to what typically or normally happens. Used to refers to things which were true in the past but not now. Be used to means 'be accustomed to' or 'be familiar with': We usually watch the news on TV before we go to bed.
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I sent you * is simple past tense. I have sent you is present perfect tense. The difference is to express a simple past action you need to use an adverb of time like yesterday,yesteryear, yestermonth,previous day ,last week or day or year or month etc..
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The simple past tense is commonly used with past time adverbs like yesterday, last week, last year etc. The past continuous tense is mainly used to talk about past events that were in progress at a particular point of time in the past. I was reading at 6 yesterday evening.
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Basically, the past tense is a tense while the past participle is a specific verb form used in the past and present perfect tenses. The past participle is not a tense. ... You need an auxiliary verb, such as “have” or “had.” Because of this, the past participle is commonly used as a compound verb.