Abitudini nel passato
Per esprimere abitudini nel passato oltre al single past si possono usare le espressioni:
- used to + infinito
- would + infinito senza to
In particola vengono usati con:
l'abitudine, la continuità d'azione:
When we were at the seaside we used to go for a long wolk on the beach early in the morning
He never used to swear
For a pious man, especially for a Quaker, he was certainly rather hard-hearted, to say the least. He never used to swear, though, at his men
(Moby Dick - H.Melville)
abitudini passate in contrasto con il presente:
I know we used to take the piss out of anyone who asked for anything we didn't like, but it's got to stop
(High Fidelity - Nick Hornby)
Would
would si usa:
per riferire su abitudini o comportamenti ripetuti e/o prevedibili nel passato
Whenever we went to see Grannie she would make us her delicious apple pie and she would give us some sherry
può essere usato con verbi dinamici ma non può essere usato con verbi di stato
Because when i was a little boy I would play with my frisbee and drink my diet coke
NO -> When I was a little boy I would have curly hair
Attenzione
would può essere intercambiato con l'espressione used to solamente nel primo caso, cioè quando si sottolinea l'abitudine o continuità d'azione:
When we were at the seaside we would go for a long wolk on the beach early in the morning