By the end of this exercise, you can describe past habits that have changed using used to / didn't use to.
Free Year 9 English practice: life before smartphones and the internet, with used to / didn't use to, self-marking gap-fills and a writing task.
Read what Lena's grandmother says about growing up. Choose the correct word for each gap.
"When I was your age," says Lena's grandmother, "we used to play outside until it got dark. There was no internet, so we didn't use to spend hours looking at a screen."
"My family 1 one television, and we all watched the same programme together in the evening."
"If I wanted to talk to a friend, I couldn't just send a 2 — I had to call their house and hope someone answered."
"We used a paper 3 when we went on holiday, because there was no GPS to guide us."
"Music came from the 4 or from cassette tapes, not from an app."
"To do 5, we went to the library and looked things up in real books, not on a search engine."
"Honestly, I think we spent much more time 6 than teenagers do today."
Complete the sentences about the past with used to or didn't use to.
1. People write letters instead of sending emails.
2. Children have smartphones — they simply didn't exist.
3. My grandad repair his own radio when it broke.
4. Families have the internet at home before the 1990s.
5. People meet friends in person much more often.
6. Students type their homework on a computer — they wrote it by hand.
7. My mum listen to the radio every morning before school.
8. Shops accept online payments — everyone paid with cash.
Choose used to for repeated past habits, or the simple past for a single, finished action.
1. My grandmother to school every day when she was young.
2. Yesterday, she to the shop to buy some bread.
3. Last week, our class a museum about old technology.
4. In the 1980s, people songs from the radio onto cassette tapes.
5. Grandad a letter to his brother every single month for years.
6. He his last letter to him in 1995.
7. Before computers, workers typewriters in almost every office.
8. On that day, the reporter to finish the story before the deadline.
Interview an older family member (or imagine their answers) and write 6–8 sentences about what life was like before smartphones. Use at least three examples of used to / didn't use to.
• How did people use to keep in touch with friends?
• What did people use to do in their free time?
• What didn't use to exist that we have today?
• What do you think was better or worse back then?
Review your answers below, then send them to your teacher.
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