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102 - An Advanced Grammar Lesson

Hello there, Kevin here with another episode of the Feel Good English podcast. How are you doing today? I have something quite different for you in this episode; I think it is actually maybe one of the first episodes I have done that is specifically on English grammar.

And what I have here is an advanced grammar lesson, trying for fix those common mistakes that I hear ninety-eight percent of English learners make. I have been doing this a long time, I have been teaching English for a really long time and I hear the same mistakes over and over and over again.

Going to focus on one advanced grammar mistake today and this is based on two different phrases, two types of phrases that we use. I am going to get into the difference between these two phrases, why they are often mixed up and I have even heard people on TV make mistakes with this, I have heard non-native English speaking English teachers make mistakes with this.

So listen to this a few times, do a little research online, go a little deeper into this, spend maybe a few days thinking about this, just thinking about it, pondering this grammar and make that little correction, fix these little mistakes in your English and get closer to the English fluency that you are looking for.

If you are totally confused or you just have a question or two about this, send me an email at kevin@ feelgoodenglish.com, I will do my best to give you the answer you were hoping to get.

So again, the first one, past habit or past truth and the second one is more about a feeling and this could be the past present or future. So the - first phrase, we will call this phrase (a), you have seen this before, I know this phrase is used to talk about the past and the past only, using “Used to”

, “I used to” and it is only used to talk about the past tense that is formed by using a subject, a noun like a person, place or thing, I, you, we, they, plus putting in “Used” or “Use” like I said is the same thing,

“Used” or “Use”

, plus a verb, infinitive from of to. For example, “I used to live in the forest under a tree, my wife used to eat grasshoppers for breakfast.” “That house didn’t use to be here.” “Where did you use to live?” Some main things here to notice, there is no “ing” at all’ did you hear “ing” , “Living”

, “Eating”? No. There is

never the verb “To be” before “Used to” , “I am used to”

, “I was used

to”

, no not in (a) not in phrase (a). Also “Use” and “Used” are interchangeable when speaking; when writing formally we use “Used” , “I used to live”

, “My wife used to eat.” However, with speaking, colloquial, you could say, using the verb “Use” even though it is present tense can be past tense. “I use to go” , “I use to live”

, “I use to listen

to”

, “I use to be”

, those are all past tense. “I used to be” , “I use to be”

, same thing, important. So when you talk about something you did many times in the past or a situation that existed in the past but doesn’t exist anymore or is not true anymore, you take “Used to” or “Use to” and put it in front of a verb. Now let’s move on to the second one. Remember these two are always mixed and confused and this is why I’m explaining them together. Now (b), phrase (b), this one is about the way you feel about something like I mentioned before. This phrase is similar to (a) but (a) has nothing to do with how you felt about something and (b) doesn’t talk about habits or things that existed. Let me repeat that. The verb “To be” To be used to something, to be accustomed to something, those are the same thing, to be used to something, to be accustomed to something. This means it is something you have adapted to that feels normal, that makes you feel comfortable or not comfortable, which all are related to the way you feel about the situation. It is formed by using a noun, most of the times a person or an animal, a living thing, plus the verb “To be”

, plus “Used to” or “Use to” same thing here, you can use those interchangeably, plus an activity or a thing or a situation Some examples,

“He (person) is not used to it.” “He is not used to it.” “He is not to use to it.” Number two,

“I am not use to driving such a nice car.” “She is use to seeing me this drunk.” “Wearen’t use to the city.” The main things here to acknowledge, every sentence has the verb “To be”.

Secondly, the word after “To”

, is not a verb, it is a noun form of the verbal with “ing”

, for example “Driving”

, “Seeing”. So just because

you have the word “To” and then there is verb after it, “Go” doesn’t

mean you have to say “To go”

, you can say “To going”. “I am used to…” What? “Going”. “I am used to going.” So in (a), in the first one, “I use to go”

, there is no “ing”. In the second one, “I am used to

going” there is an “ing”

, important,

“I am used to going”. You have

learned in the past that after “To” you use base form like “To go” , but

here after “To” you are using a noun form of the verb which has “ing” at the end. “To going” sounds weird, correct? But after “I am used to” we could use “Going”. “I am used to going.” I know it is starting to get confusing maybe so I will stop with the complicated explanation and just listen to these comparisons.

“I use to live in this house.” It is a fact, there are no feelings in this sentence,

“I use to live in this house.” Second one, “I am used to living

in this house.” This is a current comfortable feeling about the house, you feel okay, you feel comfortable here. “I am use to living in this house.” Now there is something that makes the second form even a little bit more complicated because we’re talking about a feeling and using the verb “To be”

, we could use this form in the past. “I was used to living in Brazil before I came back to the US” , which is a feeling about living in

Brazil. “I wasn’t used to waking up at five a.m. when I started that job.” A feeling about waking up early,

“I wasn’t use to waking up at five a.m.” In the first one “I use to live in Brazil” , “I use to wake up early”

, those

are past. Or,

“I wake up early, I usually wake up at five a.m.” Those are just habits. “I usually wake up”

, “I wake up”. Do not say “I am used to waking up” if you’re just talking about a habit.

You could also switch “To be” with “Get” , maybe you have heard this

before,

“I am getting use to it, I am gettinguse to the city.” But I don’t want to confuse you more than you might already be, so “Getting used to” could be a separate lesson. Just think about the first one “I use to” and the second one,

“I am used to”

, for now. So summarizing,

“I used

to”

, plus a verb like “Go” and “See” is about habits, always refers to the past tense and never uses “ing”. Example, “I use to go to the strip club

on Fridays.” Second one,

“I am” or “I was used to”

, plus “It”. “I am

used to it”

, “I was used to it.” Or instead of “It” , you could use with the

verb of the “ing” form which is a noun, “Going”

, “Seeing.” This talks

about a feeling you have about a situation and you’re using noun or a verb with “ing”. So as you listen to the podcast, you know I don’t recommend spending a lot of time on grammar unless you like grammar. I think learning grammar can come naturally but you should occasionally check in on problem areas for review which could lead to faster progress. So learning about this, listening to this, practicing with this a little bit, using this form in the next few days can help you fix those little mistakes that you have been making. You have to put this into practice, you have to apply this.

If you understand this concept, show me that you understand it, practice with me, send me an email at kevin@feelgoodenglish.com, practice that. Send me a sentence from each form here and I will give you some feedback. Tell me something that used to bother you in English, something that use to frustrate you that doesn’t frustrate you anymore; that is the first phrase.

The second phrase, phrase (b) something you are accustomed to, or not accustomed to, used to or not used to, tell me something in your life that is happening right now that you are not accustomed to.

So say,

“Kevin, I am not used to this, but I am trying to get used to it.” And also just pay attention to this form when you are reading or doing your listening practice whatever, pay attention to these forms, these two different forms,

“I use to live”

, “I’m used to living”. “I use to wake up”

, “I’m used to waking up.” Pay attention to this when you are reading different things and to see it, fix it, make the little corrections and get closer to that English fluency. Hope you enjoyed this, hope it wasn’t too confusing; if you want a transcript, go to feelgoodenglish.com, learn how to become a Feel Good member, whichgives you access to all of the transcripts, to all of the episodes. I’ll also put some links to some websites that explain this, the difference between these two phrases pretty well.

So go to feelgoodenglish.com/used and go deep into this lesson, fix this mistake, move on to the next mistake and become a confident superstar English speaker. And because you were so good listening to this grammar lesson I will leave you with a joke.

What do you call a dog that does magic tricks?

A labracadabrador.

Talk to you soon. Bye bye.