B2 used to / be used to / get used to

B2 GRAMMAR · used to / be used to / get used to

Getting Used To It

PICTURE

(you add this)

"I used to be very good at a job I hated. Now I'm quite bad at a job I love."

used to + infinitive · would · be used to and get used to + gerund

Reading

Speaking

A · LEAD-IN

The biggest change you ever made

Discuss in pairs.

1. What's the biggest change you've ever made to your daily life — a new country, job, baby, timetable?

2. What was hardest to adapt to?

3. How long did it take?

PICTURE

(you add this)

B · READING FOR GIST

From City trader to sheep farmer

Ingrid Solberg swapped six screens in the City for three hundred and forty sheep in mid-Wales.

READ ONCE AND ANSWER

PICTURE

1. What has Ingrid changed about her life?

2. Which parts of the change are easy?

3. Which parts are still difficult?

(you add this)

B · READING

From city trader to sheep farmer

"The silence was the hardest part"

Three years ago, Ingrid Solberg used to get up at 5.15 a.m., take the 6.02 train into the City, and spend eleven hours watching numbers move on six screens. She still gets up at 5.15. But now the numbers are sheep, and there are three hundred and forty of them.

"People assume the early start was the problem," she says, pouring coffee in a farmhouse kitchen in mid-Wales. "It wasn't. I'm used to getting up early — I always have been. What I couldn't get used to, at first, was the silence. In London I used to live above a bar. I would fall asleep to people shouting at taxis. Here, the first month, I lay awake every night because there was nothing to hear. I'm used to it now. Now I can't sleep in cities."

The physical work was another shock. "In my old job I didn't use to lift anything heavier than a laptop. The first lambing season nearly killed me.

I wasn't used to being outside for fourteen hours, I wasn't used to mud, and I definitely wasn't used to putting my arm inside a sheep." She laughs. "You get used to it. Honestly. Everything becomes normal if you do it enough."

Some habits have been harder to shift. "I used to check my phone about two hundred times a day. I would wake up and look at the markets before I'd even opened both eyes. I still reach for it. There's no signal in half the fields, which is probably the only reason I've got used to not looking."

Money is the last thing. "I used to earn in a month what I now make in a year, and I'm still not used to that. I'm getting used to it — slowly. I used to think a 40-pound bottle of wine was cheap. Now I think a 40-pound pair of boots is an investment." Does she regret it? "Ask me in February, when it's minus four and a ewe is giving birth in a ditch. But no. I used to be very good at a job I hated. Now I'm quite bad at a job I love. I'll take that."

C · COMPREHENSION

True, false or not mentioned?

1. Ingrid finds early mornings difficult.

2. She found the quiet countryside hard to adjust to at first.

3. She now sleeps badly in cities.

4. Her former colleagues visit her on the farm.

5. She has stopped reaching for her phone.

6. She has fully adjusted to earning less money.

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Past habits: used to and would

a) Ingrid used to get up at 5.15. She still gets up at 5.15.

b) I didn't use to lift anything heavier than a laptop.

c) I would fall asleep to people shouting at taxis.

d) I used to think a 40-pound bottle of wine was cheap.

1. In (a), is getting up at 5.15 a past habit, a present habit, or both? Does used to tell us anything about now? Can we say She uses to get up at 5.15 for the present — and what do we use instead?

2. In (b), what happens to the spelling of used to in the negative (and in questions: Did you use to...?)?

3. In (c) and (d), fall asleep is an action verb; think (opinion) is non-action. Could we say I would think a 40-pound bottle was cheap? When can we use would instead of used to, and what must be clear from the context?

D · GRAMMAR FOCUS

Familiar, or becoming familiar?

a) I'm used to getting up early — I always have been.

b) I wasn't used to being outside for fourteen hours.

c) I'm getting used to it — slowly.

d) I've got used to not looking.

1. In (a), is this about the past or the present? Does it mean "I did it in the past" or "it's normal for me, not strange"? What form of the verb follows used to here?

2. In (a) and (b), is the situation already familiar (or not) at that time? Which verb comes before used to?

3. In (c) and (d), is the situation already familiar, or becoming familiar? Which verb comes before used to?

4. Which of the two — be used to or get used to — is like It's dark, and which is like It's getting dark?

5. What can follow be / get used to: an infinitive, a gerund, a noun, or a pronoun? Find examples in the text.

D · THE RULES

Complete the rules

Complete with used to, would, be used to or get used to.

• ________ + infinitive: past habits, repeated actions and states that have changed. Negative: didn't use to. It does not exist in the present — use usually + present simple.

• ________ can replace used to for repeated past actions (not states), when it is already clear we are talking about the past. NOT Alan wouldn't be so thin.

• ________ + gerund / noun: you are accustomed to something; it is now familiar or not strange.

• ________ + gerund / noun: a new situation is becoming familiar or less strange.

CAREFUL

Used to + infinitive vs be used to + gerund: I used to work nights (past habit, now finished) / I'm used to working nights (it's normal for me now). Completely different meanings.

E · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Right or wrong? Correct the mistakes in the bold phrases.

1. Ingrid didn't used to live in the countryside.

2. She couldn't get used to sleep in silence.

3. Did you use to work in finance?

4. I'm tired all the time — I'm not used to getting up so early.

5. When I was a trader, I would have a very expensive car.

6. Paul would check his phone constantly when he lived in London.

7. It took me months to be used to driving on the left.

8. My grandmother use to keep sheep, too.

9. Are you used to the cold yet?

10. There used to be a bank on this corner, but it closed last year.

E · CONTROLLED PRACTICE

Complete with used to, be used to or get used to + the verb in brackets.

11. When Ingrid moved to Wales, she couldn't ________ (hear) nothing at night.

12. My parents ________ (have) a farm, but they sold it when I was ten.

13. I've worked in a hospital for twenty years, so I ________ (see) blood.

14. Don't worry about the noise from the trains — you ________ (it) in a week or two.

15. She ________ (not / like) the countryside, but now she never wants to leave.

16. Although I've lived here for years, I still ________ (not / drive) on these narrow roads.

F · FREER PRACTICE

Then, now, and adjusting

Tell your partner about each of these. Your partner asks follow-up questions.

• Three things you used to do that you don't do any more.

• Two things you're completely used to now that once seemed strange.

• One thing you're still getting used to.

• Follow-ups: Why did you stop? How long did it take to get used to it? Do you think you'll ever get used to it?

• Discussion: Would you swap a well-paid job you hated for a badly paid one you loved? What would you find hardest to get used to?

PICTURE

(you add this)

TEACHER'S REFERENCE · HIDE OR DELETE BEFORE CLASS

Answer key

B GIST She has swapped a City trading job for a sheep farm. Early mornings are easy (she has always done them); the silence, physical work and mud were hard at first but she is now used to them; she is still getting used to earning much less, and still reaches for her phone.

C 1 F (she is used to getting up early) · 2 T · 3 T · 4 NM · 5 F (she still reaches for it) · 6 F (she is still getting used to it).

D PART 1 1 Both a past habit and a present habit — but used to only tells us about the past; no; usually + present simple. 2 It becomes use to. 3 No — would is not used for states / non-action verbs; use it for repeated past actions when the past context is already clear.

D PART 2 1 Present; "it's normal for me"; a gerund. 2 Already familiar in (a) / not yet familiar at that time in (b); be. 3 Becoming familiar; get. 4 be used to = It's dark; get used to = It's getting dark. 5 Gerund (getting up, being, putting, not looking), noun (mud), pronoun (it, that).

RULES used to; would; be used to; get used to.

E 1-10 1 Wrong — didn't use to live · 2 Wrong — couldn't get used to sleeping · 3 Right · 4 Right · 5 Wrong — used to have (a state; would not possible) · 6 Right · 7 Wrong — to get used to driving · 8 Wrong — used to keep · 9 Right · 10 Right

E 11-16 11 get used to hearing · 12 used to have · 13 'm used to seeing · 14 'll get used to it · 15 didn't use to like · 16 'm not used to driving