In relation to the grammar item dealt with in class last week, let me give you a much clearer explanation of the real differences between 'would' and 'used to' and some extra practice on them.
We only use 'would' to describe actions or situations that were repeated again and again and again...
But we use 'used to' for any extended action or situation in the past.
'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.
To make this clearer, let's look at the three examples of 'used to' sentences, and see if we can change them into 'would' sentences.
Here's the first example again:
"I used to live in Manchester, but I moved to London last year."
Can we use 'would' instead of 'used to' here?
No, we can't, because 'living in Manchester' wasn't repeated again and again and again. It's simply a situation in the past. Therefore, only 'used to' is good in this sentence.
The second example again:
" When he was at school, he used to play football every Saturday."
Here, we're talking about 'playing football every Saturday'. This is an action that was repeated many times, so we can also say:
"When he was at school, he would play football every Saturday".
'Used to' and 'would' are both good here, and the meaning is the same.
Finally, the third example again:
"She used to hate her job until she got a promotion."
Did she 'hate her job' many times?
No, this isn't a repeated action, so in this example 'would' isn't possible. We have to use 'used to'.
Here you have a couple of links where to get a bit of extra practice on "used to" or " would".
http://www.inglesmundial.com/A2/grammar.htm
Hope everything is a lot clearer after all this!
