FOCUS : HOW VERBS WORK IN TIME AND WITH EACH OTHER & HOW 'USED TO' WORKS
CLICK ON THE GRAPHICS FOR A BIGGER VERSION [OR TO DOWNLOAD]
AS YOUR LEVEL IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROGRESSES TOWARDS C1 [EXPERT], THE REQUIREMENT FOR PRECISION INCREASES IN TESTS AND EXAMINATIONS OF GRAMMAR/USE OF ENGLISH.
WHERE IT MAY BE POSSIBLE AND ACCEPTABLE TO USE ONE VERB FORM IN EVERYDAY USE IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS TECHNICALLY CORRECT [TO THE STANDARD]. IT SIMPLY MEANS THAT IN EVERYDAY USE IT IS OK [SAVE IT FOR YOUR FREESTYLE WRITING TASKS WHERE YOU WILL NOT BE PENALISED].
HERE ARE SOME HANDY CHARTS TO HELP YOU UNPICK / DECONSTRUCT HOW COMMON TENSES WORK [LOVE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO ESL]
AND NOW FOR THE PROBLEM OF USE TO / USED TO [WHICH CATCHES ESOL STUDENTS OVER AND AGAIN]
NOTE : I AM AWARE OF TEXT ERRORS IN THE GRAPHICS BUT [CAN YOU SEE THEM?]
FROM WEBSTER'S DICTIONARY
Used to refers to something familiar or routine, as in "I'm used to getting up early for work," or to say that something repeatedly happened in the past like "we used to go out more."
Use to typically occurs with did [TO DO]; "Did you use to work there?" or "It didn't use to be like that," describing something in the past that doesn't happen anymore.
If you're stuck, remember: we're used to seeing this phrase in the past tense, even though it did use to be otherwise..
AND FROM ANOTHER SOURCE -
So, when do you use 'use to' without the d at the end?
When the base form of the verb is used. Example -
'This website is one I use to check the weather forecast in Arabic'. A continuing habit begun in the past and likely to go on into the future.
Or
'Did your father use to ride a horse?' Referring to something that was happening in the past.
In these cases the past tense is shown with did and didn't.