One of the best ways of understanding the difference between used to and Present Simple is by talking about our past and present jobs. In this way, you can engage your B1-level Business English students to discuss their responsibilities while revising those basic grammar points.
A few weeks ago, I was approached by a student who asked if we could go over used to + infinitive combined with be/get used to + gerund/noun. I pondered for some time on how to tackle this topic in a memorable way. I debated using it while discussing our past, present, and future environmental habits but eventually settled on the topic of getting a promotion. In hindsight, it was a good decision as I only teach working adults, and all of them enjoy talking about their professional successes.
At the end of the post, you can find the presentation, worksheet and teacher’s notes.
As this lesson was prepared for 1:1 classes, I decided to begin it with a short discussion about the student’s previous jobs and responsibilities. I’m not going to lie, it’s always fascinating to hear what people actually do at work, but sometimes their responsibilities are so complicated that they go straight over my head! Luckily, I only need to focus on error correction. I think this warm-up could work great in small and big groups. All you need to do is divide students into pairs or groups and discuss the questions with each other. It could be interesting to see people working at the same company but in different departments talking about their day-to-day past and present responsibilities.
To demonstrate the difference between Present Simple and used to + infinitive, let’s consider a fictional entry-level IT employee named Sarah, who works as a Junior Software Developer. Although my expertise in the IT industry is limited, I tried to do my best. I searched for job responsibilities for this position and found a concise description on Betterteam. All of the responsibilities listed are written in the infinitive form. By using this example, students can practice converting the remaining sentences into the Present Simple tense in the third person. This exercise is a great opportunity to address any difficulties students may have with this particular tense.
Then say that Sarah got promoted from Junior to Mid-level Software Developer. Present them with a set of new job responsibilities, which I found on Codegym, and repeat the previous task with the use of Present Simple. Explain that the old responsibilities can be described with the structure used to + infinitive, frequently used when talking about past habits, and also things that are no longer true. Students write sentences using the previously described structure. Check everyone’s answers and offer any help as needed.
Once you think that everyone understands the structure and can use it freely, ask them to think about their past and present responsibilities. You may want to give them some time to write them down. Then put them into pairs to describe to each other what they used to do and what they didn’t used to do before.
I like covering all uses of used to in one lesson, as sometimes students look for information and often bring up this topic in class. This will cover all your bases. Continue with the topic of Sarah’s promotion. Say that it’s already been a few weeks since the promotion, and she has learned a lot, but there are a few responsibilities that she still struggles with. Show them three sentences talking about the task that she isn’t used to doing, is getting used to doing, and is used to doing by now. Students repeat the pattern and write down three more sentences.
Students work in pairs again. Tell them that they are colleagues who both got promoted. Students ask each other about the different tasks and answer using be / get used to + gerund / noun. Monitor the activity and mention that these two structures can be used in any tense.
Finally, finish the lesson with a general discussion on jobs. Ask students to share their stories about past jobs unrelated to their current professions and what they used to do in those positions. Think about the feeling they would get if they were offered a promotion today and whether they would need a lot of time to get used to new responsibilities. Discuss any difficulties a person may face when getting used to new responsibilities. As always, finish with short speaking feedback.
Have you ever got a promotion? What did you use to do? What do you do now?
