'used to' for past habits

We use 'used to' + the base form of a verb to talk about a habit, a repeated action, or a state in the past that is now finished and no longer true. It tells us that something happened regularly before but does not happen any more (I used to play football every day, but now I don't) or that a situation was different in the past (There used to be a cinema here). The form is always the same for every subject: used to + verb, with no -s and no past ending on the main verb. To make a negative we use 'didn't use to' (note the spelling 'use', without the final d), and to make a question we use 'Did … use to …?'. Be careful not to confuse this with the unrelated phrase 'be used to (doing) something', which means 'be accustomed to' — at grade-9 level we focus only on 'used to' for past habits. For example: 'My grandmother used to live in a village, and she didn't use to have a phone, but now she lives in the city and uses one every day.'