Past Habits: used to and would
भूतकाल की आदतें: used to और would
English has a dedicated construction for 'this used to happen regularly, but not anymore' — a nuance Hindi's ordinary habitual past (करता था) doesn't automatically separate out on its own.
Grammar Comparison
व्याकरण तुलना
used to signals 'not anymore', which plain habitual past doesn't
I used to play tennis. (I played regularly in the past, but I no longer do — implied contrast with now)
मैं टेनिस खेलता था। (हिंदी का यह भूतकालिक रूप used to जैसा है, पर 'अब नहीं' का भाव अपने आप नहीं देता)
Hindi's own habitual past construction (खेलता था, रहती थी) describes a repeated past action, similar in spirit to used to, but it doesn't carry the same automatic implication that the habit has since stopped — that has to come from context or an extra word like पहले (before). English's used to builds that 'but not now' contrast directly into the grammar itself. would can substitute for used to with action verbs (I would play tennis every weekend) but can't be used with state verbs like have or know — for those, used to is required (I used to have a dog, not I would have a dog).
Vocabulary
शब्दावली
| English | Pronunciation | Hindi |
|---|---|---|
| I used to play tennis. | eye YOOST too play TEN-is | मैं टेनिस खेलता था।maiñ ṭenis kheltā thā. |
| She used to live here. | shee YOOST too liv heer | वह पहले यहाँ रहती थी।vah pahle yahāñ rahtī thī. |
| We would visit every summer. | wee wood VIZ-it EV-ree SUM-er | हम हर गर्मी में आते थे।ham har garmī meñ āte the. |