English Grammar - Be used to

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be used to

form

be used to + noun or gerund

functions & examples

We use 'be used to' to say that a situation is not new or strange, or is no longer new or strange.
I've lived here for ten years now so I'm used to driving in the city.
He's not used to working at night so he sometimes falls asleep.
Are you used to the climate?
I wasn't used to working such long hours when I started my new job.

important points

We can modify 'be used to' with adverbs.
I'm very used to his strange behaviour now.
She's should be pretty used to living without electricity or running water by now.

See also Get used to | Used to

teaching 'be used to'

"I teach "be used to" and "get used to" together, because "get used to" is much easier to explain straight after setting a context for "be used to".

I use the context of being used to driving on a different side of the road. So if you're British and are teaching in a country where they drive on the right, then you're in luck. Likewise, if you're American and are teaching where they drive on the left - you get the idea. (If not, just use "Jimmy" as your example, rather than yourself).

First, ask your students which side of the road they drive on in their country, and in the UK. Then ask them what it was like for you (or Jimmy) when you first arrived in (let's say) Spain. You want to elicit "strange" or "not normal".

Now tell them that you've been living in Spain for a year, and ask them if it is still strange. Here of course you want to elicit that now it's normal for you.

Okay, now that you've established that, draw a timeline on the board, with "PAST" on the left, and "NOW" on the right. Draw a cross to show when you arrived in Spain, and reiterate that it wasn't normal for you to drive on the right. You can even write "not normal" on the timeline. Reiterate also that now it's no longer strange (write normal on the timeline under NOW).

Then present the target language: "Now, it's normal for me to drive on the right. I'm used to driving on the right." When they're happy with this, repeat with the past: "One year ago, it wasn't normal for me to drive on the right, I wasn't used to driving on the right."

Give some other example at this stage, get them to come up with some of their own, until they're quite comfortable with using "be used to " in different tenses and situations. Then you can introduce "get used to". Refer to your timeline, and elicit or present the idea of a change between a year ago and now. Elicit or present this change as "get used to" - "During this time I got used to driving on the right".

And that's pretty much it for the presentation. I find it takes a lot of practice for students to be totally comfortable with it."
Megan

"I teach 1st-year Japanese university kids. Generally, they've had a lot of prior grammar instruction but little practice in meaningful use. My task is to activate, or to establish links between patterns they know and how to create meaning.

For 'get used to', I introduce it by talking about my experiences of Japan. While doing so, I draw a timeline on the board. On the left-hand side of the timeline, I write 'Then' and on the right, 'Now'. As students know the past simple, example sentences like, 'When I first saw natto, I thought that it looked funny'. (I accompany this with the appropriate 'yucky' gesture, which usually gets a laugh.) I write 'natto' under 'Then'. I tell my students that 'I had natto three times last week. I like natto.' Under 'Now', 'Like natto' gets written. This forms the basis for the target sentence, 'I didn't like natto at first. Now, I'm used to eating it.'

I repeat this example with others. 'Hardly ever ate rice -- eat it every day' / 'use chopsticks rarely -- use chopsticks with every meal'. And so on.

As students are in their 1st year, they are often not used to university life in all respects. Some are living alone for the first time. I ask them to think about life as a high school student and life now as a university student. Students are asked to copy the timeline from the board and to add their own examples. They produce the target sentence a few times using their examples.

Then, students get in pairs to ask and answer the following question: "How has your life changed since coming to university?" They are encouraged to develop their dialogues into conversations."
Jim

"You can teach "be used to" and "get used to" by talking about marriage and how it changes one's life. Show pictures representing the "habits" you have or had. E.g. I am used to getting up late, I'm not used to washing someone else's clothes, etc. Then, show what "new" things and activities they'll need to adapt to; for example "When you get married, you'll need to get used to your husband's habits"
Alfonso

"When I teach be used to and get used to I prefer to share practical examples because it helps the trainees to understand the concept better. For example...

"Manish is from a village so obviously he is not accustomed to living in noisy and crowded areas... if he moves to a city he will get frustrated. Why? Because he is not used to living in a city."

Now the trainer can add more to that and continue further with the same example...
"If Manish starts living in the city he will get used to living there..."

So here I can help students to understand that when you get into a habit of doing something you use get used to along with the -ing form of the verb to express a habit of doing something."
Posted by Manish

"You can ask students to work in pairs. Each pair must have a page divided into four sections. Each section is about one topic (e.g. sports, holidays, schools, etc.) You can show them the use of "I used to" and "I am used to" by writing on the board something which is true for you, e.g. "When I was a child I used to collect stamps" and "Now I am used to playing tennis". Ask your students to write 2 sentences about what they used to do when they were children and one thing they do now. Their sentences must be related to the four topics you gave them at the beginning (sports, hobbies, etc.). Once they have finished, they can talk about it in pairs. Then they must report what they learned about their classmates to the whole class.

You can also show your students pictures of what your city was like 50 years ago. First brainstorm ideas about how they imagine life was like at that time. After that, ask them to compare life then and now. They can also talk about the changes the city has had through the years, for instance, they can say things like "There used to be a small shop at the corner, now there is a big shopping centre", etc."
Marcelo

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