Egypt is a country that has lived many lives. The Nile used to flood every summer, farmers would harvest their crops from the rich black mud, and ancient priests would offer gifts to the river god Hapi. Today, all of that has changed — and describing that change is exactly where used to, would, and was/were used to shine. If you’ve already met these forms at B1 level, this guide pushes deeper into the distinctions that really matter at B2 — the ones that catch even advanced learners off guard.
What you already know — and what’s missing
At B1, you learned that used to describes past habits and states that are no longer true: I used to live in Cairo. That’s a solid foundation. But at B2, three questions start to appear:
- When can you use would instead of used to? (Answer: sometimes — but critically, not always.)
- What does was/were used to mean? (It’s a completely different structure with a different meaning.)
- How does get used to work? (It describes a process, not a state.)
These three forms trip up B2 learners constantly — particularly Spanish speakers, where the L1 equivalents don’t map neatly onto any of them. Let’s take them one by one, with Egypt as our anchor throughout.
Used to + infinitive covers both past habits AND past states; would + infinitive covers repeated past actions ONLY — never states. Was/were used to + -ing means “was accustomed to” — a completely separate meaning. Get these three straight, and everything else falls into place.
The full picture: formation table
| Form | Structure | Use | Example (Egypt context) |
|---|---|---|---|
| used to + infinitive | subject + used to + verb |
Past habit or past state no longer true | The Nile used to flood every summer. |
| would + infinitive | subject + would + verb |
Repeated past action/habit only — NOT states | Farmers would plant their crops each October. |
| was/were used to + -ing / noun | subject + was/were used to + gerund/noun |
Was accustomed to (a condition in the past) | Ancient farmers were used to reading the river’s height. |
| get used to + -ing / noun | subject + get/got used to + gerund/noun |
The process of becoming accustomed to something | Modern Egyptians got used to a controlled river after 1970. |
Negative and question forms of “used to”
Forming negatives and questions is one of the trickiest areas of this structure. There are two accepted patterns — the auxiliary-based form is by far the more common in everyday speech:
| Form | Formal (less common) | Informal / Common |
|---|---|---|
| Negative | He used not to travel. | He didn’t use to travel. |
| Question | Used he to travel? | Did he use to travel? |
Key spelling point: in the negative/question forms with did, the verb becomes use to — no final d. A small detail, but one that shows up in exams and that examiners notice.
Egypt: a land shaped by change
Few countries in the world offer such a vivid story of change across time. Egypt has been continuously inhabited for over 6,000 years, and the structures used to and would are perfectly designed for telling that story. Here are some verified facts about how Egypt used to be — and how it has transformed.
The Nile used to flood every summer. For thousands of years, the Nile’s annual inundation — called Akhet by the ancient Egyptians — deposited rich, dark silt across the floodplain, creating some of the most fertile land in the ancient world. Farmers would plant their crops each October as the waters receded, using the mud the river left behind. This seasonal cycle ended in 1970 when the Aswan High Dam was completed, permanently transforming Egyptian agriculture. (Source: National Geographic, Wikipedia — Flooding of the Nile)
Ancient Egyptians would celebrate the flood with offerings. Each year, Egyptians would gather on the Nile’s banks to honour Hapi, the god of the annual flood. Priests would lead processions, and communities would throw offerings — flowers, incense, and symbolic gifts — into the water as acts of gratitude and prayer. This ceremony is still commemorated today in the national festival Wafaa El-Nil (Fidelity of the Nile), though its form has naturally evolved over centuries. (Source: Egypt Fun Tours, CSA Living)
People used to sleep on flat rooftops during summer. Ancient and medieval Egyptian homes were built from mud brick with flat roofs — practical and naturally cool in the desert heat. Families would sleep outside on rooftops during the hottest months, a widespread custom that continued in many rural areas well into the 20th century. Today, most Egyptians in cities like Cairo live in Western-style apartment buildings. (Source: World History Encyclopedia — Daily Life in Ancient Egypt)
Ancient Egyptian priests used to keep the calendar. Egyptian astronomers were among the first in history to calculate a solar calendar of 365 days, tracking the movements of the star Sirius and the sun. This knowledge used to be held exclusively by trained temple priests, who would announce the beginning of each season. The modern Gregorian calendar we use today is partly descended from this Egyptian achievement. (Source: Britannica, Flying Carpet Tours)
Almost all of Egypt’s population used to live within reach of the Nile. Even today, approximately 95% of Egypt’s population lives in the narrow ribbon of land along the Nile River — which covers only about 5% of the country’s total area. In ancient times this concentration was even more striking: virtually all Egyptian civilisation used to exist within a few kilometres of the river. (Source: CIA World Factbook)
Used to vs Would: the distinction that matters at B2
Both used to and would can describe repeated past habits — but only used to can describe past states. This is the B2 distinction.
What is a state verb? States describe conditions rather than actions: be, have, know, believe, love, own, live (in certain senses), understand, feel (in some uses). You cannot use would with these in past habit contexts:
✅ The Nile used to be central to everything.
❌ The Nile would be central to everything.
✅ Most Egyptians used to live in mud-brick houses.
✅ Most Egyptians would build their homes from mud brick.
❌ Most Egyptians would live in mud-brick houses. (live here = a state of residence, not a repeated action)
The tricky part: live can be both a dynamic and a state verb depending on context. When it means “resided” (a condition), use used to. When it means “spent their time” (a pattern of activity), would can work — but in most exam and writing contexts, used to is always the safer, more natural choice for habitual residence or ongoing conditions.
Was/were used to: a completely different meaning
Here is where many learners get genuinely confused: was/were used to + -ing does NOT describe past habits. It means was accustomed to. Compare:
- Ancient Egyptian farmers used to wake before sunrise. — past habit that is no longer true
- Ancient Egyptian farmers were used to waking before sunrise. — they were accustomed to it; it was familiar, not strange to them
Both sentences can be true simultaneously — but they emphasise different things. The first describes the pattern; the second emphasises the farmers’ familiarity and comfort with it.
Get used to: the process of becoming accustomed
Get used to describes the transition from unfamiliar to familiar — a process, not a state:
- When the Aswan Dam was built, farmers had to get used to irrigating their land year-round.
- It took several generations to get used to the new agricultural rhythms of a controlled river.
- Egyptians today are slowly getting used to hotter, drier summers driven by climate change.
Example bank: all four forms in Egypt
- The Nile used to flood every summer, covering the fields in rich black silt.
- Ancient farmers would plant their crops each October as the floodwaters receded.
- Egyptian priests would lead elaborate ceremonies on the banks of the Nile each year.
- Cairo used to be a much smaller city — it didn’t use to have 20 million inhabitants.
- Families used to sleep on flat mud-brick rooftops during the hottest summer nights.
- Communities would gather on the riverbank to watch the annual flood arrive.
- Ancient farmers were used to living their entire lives within reach of the Nile.
- Priests were used to reading the height of the river as a guide to the harvest ahead.
- When the Aswan Dam was built, farming communities had to get used to a completely new water cycle.
- The pharaoh used to own all the land — ordinary people didn’t use to have property rights.
- Scribes would record the Nile’s height on measuring stones called Nilometers each year.
- Life in ancient Egypt used to revolve around three seasons: flood, planting, and harvest.
- Egyptian women used to have more legal rights than women in many other ancient civilisations.
- Visitors to Egypt are often surprised — they aren’t used to seeing ancient and modern side by side.
- I’m slowly getting used to reading hieroglyphics; at first they seemed completely impossible.
- Pyramid builders would work in rotating teams — one of the most organised labour systems of the ancient world.
1. Choose the correct option: “The Nile _____ flood every summer before the Aswan Dam was built.”
- would
- used to
- was used to
- got used to
2. Which sentence is grammatically incorrect?
- Ancient farmers used to believe in the god Hapi.
- Ancient farmers would believe in the god Hapi.
- Ancient farmers would offer gifts to the Nile.
- Ancient farmers used to offer gifts to the Nile.
3. Complete the sentence: “After moving to Cairo, she had to _____ the noise and traffic.”
- use to
- get used to
- used to
- be used to
4. Which is the correct question form?
- Did she used to study hieroglyphics?
- Did she use to study hieroglyphics?
- Used she to study hieroglyphics?
- Both b and c are correct
5. “When I first arrived in Alexandria, I _____ the heat, but now I love it.” Choose the best answer.
- didn’t use to
- used to
- wasn’t used to
- wouldn’t
- b — used to flood is the safest, most natural answer. The Nile’s flooding is a seasonal state/recurring condition, making used to the clearest choice. (Option a, would flood, is also widely accepted in this context as it could be seen as a recurring event, but in formal or exam writing, used to is preferred for long-term conditions.)
- b — “would believe” is incorrect. Believe is a state verb; would cannot be used with state verbs to describe past habits or conditions.
- b — get used to. This describes the process of becoming accustomed to something new — shifting from unfamiliar to familiar.
- d — both b and c are correct. The informal spoken form is did she use to; the formal written form is used she to. Both are grammatically acceptable, though option b is far more common in everyday English.
- c — wasn’t used to. The speaker was not accustomed to the heat when they first arrived. This is be used to (= accustomed to), not the past-habit structure used to.
National Geographic — Why the Nile River Was So Important to Ancient Egypt ·
Wikipedia — Flooding of the Nile ·
Egypt Fun Tours — Rituals of the Nile Inundation ·
CSA Living — Wafaa El-Nil Festival ·
World History Encyclopedia — Daily Life in Ancient Egypt ·
CIA World Factbook — Egypt ·
Britannica — Egypt: Daily Life and Social Customs