Study this example situation:
Lisa is Am erican, bu t she lives in Tokyo. W hen she first drove a car in Japan, she found it very difficult because she had to drive on the left, not on the right. D riving on the left was strange and difficult for her because:
She w a sn ’t u se d to it.
She w a sn ’t u se d to d r iv in g on the left. B ut after a lot o f practice, driving on the left becam e less strange. So:
She g o t u se d to d r iv in g on the left. N ow it’s no problem for Lisa: She is u s e d to d r iv in g on the left.
I ’m u se d to som ething = it is not new or strange for me:
■ Frank lives alone. H e doesn’t m ind this because he has lived alone for 15 years. It is no t strange for him . H e is u se d to it. H e is u s e d to liv in g alone.
■ I bought some new shoes. T hey felt strange at first because I w a sn ’t u s e d to th e m . ■ O u r new apartm ent is on a very busy street. I expect w e’ll g e t u s e d to th e no ise,
bu t for now it’s very annoying.
■ D iane has a new jo b . She has to get up m uch earlier now than before - at 6:30. She finds this difficult, because she is n ’t u se d to g e ttin g u p so early.
■ B arbara’s husband is often away. She doesn’t m ind. She is u se d to h im being away. After b e / g e t u se d you cannot use the infinitive (to d o / t o d riv e, etc.). We say:
■ She is used to d r iv in g on the left. (not She is used to drive)
W hen we say “I a m u se d to som ething,” to is a preposition, no t a p art o f the infinitive. So we say:
■ Frank is used to liv in g alone. (not Frank is used to live)
■ Lisa had to get used to d r iv in g on the left, (not get used to drive) D o not confuse I a m u se d to d o in g and I u s e d to do:
I a m used to (doing) something = it isn’t strange or new for me: ■ I a m used to th e w e a th e r in this country.
■ I a m used to d r iv in g on the left because I’ve lived in Japan a long time.
I used to d o som ething = I did it regularly in the past bu t no longer do it. You can use this only for the past, n o t for the present.
T he structure is “I u se d to do” (not “I a m used to do”):
■ I u se d to d riv e to w ork every day, but these days I usually ride my bike. ■ W e u se d to live in a small tow n, bu t now we live in Los Angeles.
Exercises
u n i t
59
59.1 Look again at the situation in Section A on the opposite page ("Lisa is American .. The following situations are similar. Complete the sentences using used to.
1. Ju an is Spanish and w ent to live in Canada. In Spain he usually had dinner late in the evening, bu t in Canada dinner was at 6:00. This was very early for him , and he found it very strange at first.
W hen Juan first w ent to Canada, he w a s n t u s e d to h a vin g dinner so early, but after a w hile h e ____________________________________it. N ow he finds it norm al. H e ___________________________________ at 6:00.
2. Julia is a nurse. A year ago she started w orking nights. At first she found it hard and didn’t like it.
S h e ___________________________________ nights, and it took her a few m onths to ___________________________________ it. Now, after a year, she’s pretty happy. She ___________________________________ nights.
59.2 What do you say in these situations? Use I'm (not) used to . . . .
1. You live alone. You don’t m ind this. You have always lived alone.
Friend: D o you get a little lonely sometimes?
You: N o, I'm u s e d to living alone.______________________________________________
2. You sleep on the floor. You don’t m ind this. You have always slept on the floor.
Friend: W ouldn’t you prefer to sleep in a bed?
You: N o,_I _____________________________________________________________________ 3. You have to w ork long hours in your job. This is n o t a problem for you. You have always
w orked long hours.
Friend: You have to w ork very long hours in your job, don’t you?
You: Yes, bu t I don’t m ind that. I _________________________________________________ 4. You usually go to bed early. Last night you w ent to bed very late (for you) and as a result,
you are very tired this m orning.
Friend: You look tired this m orning.
You: Y es,_____
59.3 Read the situations and complete the sentences using get/got used to.
1. Some friends o f yours have ju st m oved into an apartm ent on a busy street. It’s very noisy. T hey’ll have to g e t u s e d to th e noise._____________________________________________
2. Sue m oved from a big house to a m uch smaller one. She found it strange at first.
She had t o ___________________________________________________in a m uch smaller house. 3. T he children at school got a new teacher. She was different from the teacher before her,
b ut this w asn’t a problem for the children. They s o o n _________________________________ 4. Some people you know from the U nited States are going to live in your country. W h at will
they have to get used to? T hey’ll have t o ________
59.4 Complete the sentences using only one word each time (see Section C).
1. Lisa had to get used to d rivin g on the left.
2. W e used to live in a small town, but now we live in Los Angeles.
3. Tom used t o _________________________ a lot o f coffee. N ow he prefers tea. 4. I feel very full after that meal. I’m not used t o _________________________ so m uch. 5. I w ouldn’t like to share an office. I’m used t o _________________________ my own office. 6. I used t o _________________________ a car, but I sold it a few m onths ago.
7. W h e n we w ere children, we used t o swim m ing every day. 8. T here used t o _________________________ a movie theater here, but it was to rn dow n a
few years ago.
9. I’m the boss here! I’m not used t o told w hat to do.