4. Paco is used to speaking English

Icono IDevice Reading activity

Paco has been in Africa for some time now and he is getting used to the distinctive accent. At the beginning of his big travelling adventure, when he left Spain, he could hardly speak English. He had some basic knowledge but, little by little, in the UK, he got used to speaking English in order to be able to communicate with different people. So far he has been to a few more countries in two more continents and he can say he is completely used to talking in English, and he can even distinguish accents! Paco also had to get used to the food since each country has a characteristic cuisine. However, he is not getting used to the different currency he must use in each country. For example, one Euro is equivalent to 111.24 Kenyan Shilling approximately, but it was about 0'893 pounds in the UK. What a mess!

By Dan Patterson, C. Commons

Identify all the structures with 'be/get used to' that you can find in the text.


Pregunta Verdadero-Falso
Read the text again and decide if the following statements are true or false:


1. Paco uses English habitually.

Verdadero Falso


2. Although he can speak English very well, he can't distinguish the accents.

Verdadero Falso


3. He finds currency conversion quite easy.

Verdadero Falso
Icono de iDevice Reflexión

Study the examples from the text and answer the question:

By Will Pate, C. Commons

 

He is getting used to the distinctive accent.

He got used to speaking English.

He is completely used to talking in English.

Paco also had to get used to the food.

He is not getting used to the different currency.

What comes after the structure 'be/get used to'?

Icono de iDevice Solved exercise: be/get used to

The structure 'be/get used to' can be used in any tense but must be followed by either a noun or a verb in its -ing form.

BE USED TO means 'to be accustomed to something', that is, it isn't strange any more.

GET USED TO expresses the process of becoming accustomed to something, that is, something strange becomes more familiar.

Complete the following table with the appropriate forms.

GET USED TO

AFFIRMATIVE NEGATIVE INTERROGATIVE
PRESENT CONTINUOUS I'm getting used to speaking.
    
PAST SIMPLE
 He got used to speaking.
    
FUTURE 'WILL'
 They'll get used to speaking.
    
BE USED TO
  AFFIRMATIVE
NEGATIVE
INTERROGATIVE
PRESENT SIMPLE
I'm used to speaking
    
PAST SIMPLE
He was used to speaking
    
FUTURE 'WILL'
They'll be used to speaking
    

Icono IDevice Important

Don't confuse 'be/get used to' with 'used to'! They look similar but they mean very different things. Study the sentences:

Paco used to learn English. Habit in the past.
Paco is used to speaking English. He is accustomed to it.

Icono IDevice Further knowledge
Practice the structures 'be/get used to' and 'used to' by doing this online quiz.

And that's it! Well done! Now go to the section 'Practice your English'.
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