Be used to and get used to

Build the familiar-meaning pattern

A noun phrase names something, such as this keyboard. A pronoun can stand for it, such as it. An -ing form names an activity, such as typing. You can put any of these after be used to or get used to.

• My fingers are used to this keyboard.
• The keys feel different, but I'm getting used to them.
• I'm used to typing without looking at my hands.

In this meaning, used describes how familiar something feels. Change be or get to fit the subject and time. Keep used to, including its final d, in positive sentences, negatives and questions.

An activity can also be something that happens to you: I'm used to being interrupted means that interruptions feel familiar. Being interrupted is a passive -ing form: someone else interrupts you.

A base verb is the form without a tense ending, such as take rather than took or taking.

The to here is a preposition, a linking word before a noun or an activity. It is not the to in an infinitive such as to take. If a verb follows to in this familiar-meaning pattern, use its -ing form, not the base form take.

Be used to: it feels familiar

Use be used to when a situation does not feel new or strange. It describes a state: how things are for you at the time you are talking about. It does not describe the steps of becoming familiar.

• The stairs don't surprise me. I am used to climbing them with my shopping.
• Our neighbour is used to the sound of our piano.
• The room was dark, but my eyes were used to it.

Something can be familiar without being something you like. Being used to a situation is not a way of saying you chose it or enjoy it.

• I am used to waiting for repairs, but I still find it frustrating.

Nor does the expression by itself tell you exactly how often the activity happens. It tells you about familiarity. Use a time phrase if you need to give that extra information.

Be: positives, negatives and questions

Use am with I, is with he, she or it, and are with you, we or they in the present. In the simple past, use was with I, he, she or it; use were with you, we or they.

• We aren't used to such a small kitchen.
• I wasn't used to sharing a desk when I started there.

To ask a present or past simple question with be, put the form of be before the subject. Do not add do or did to this pattern.

• Are you used to wearing glasses now?
• Was he used to the cold water before the trip?

Short answers keep the form of be: Yes, I am. No, I'm not. Yes, he was. No, he wasn't. In a short answer you need not repeat used to and its ending.

You can contract be: I am becomes I'm; she is becomes she's. In She's used to the routine, she's means she is. The meaning is familiarity now, not a former habit.

Get used to: the change

Use get used to for becoming familiar with something. You may be in the middle of that change, or talk about a change that has finished. The tense and context tell you which.

• The new timetable felt strange at first. I am getting used to it now.
• After a few lessons, he got used to balancing on the board.
• It may take a while to get used to the new screen layout.

Am getting used to shows a process in progress. Got used to describes the change as something that happened. It does not mean that the person is still struggling with it. You can describe the resulting state with be used to.

Getting used to something can take time, but get does not force the process to be slow. You can say someone got used to something quickly or that they never got used to it.

Get: negatives, questions and short answers

Treat get as a changing verb. In present simple negatives and questions, use do or does with get. In past simple negatives and questions, use did with get. The word used still keeps its d: did is supporting get, not turning used to into the former-habit pattern.

• I didn't get used to eating dinner so late.

• Did your parents get used to the narrow roads?

Answer Yes, they did or No, they didn't. The short answer follows did, not be. Compare Are they used to it? Yes, they are with Did they get used to it? Yes, they did.

In continuous forms, move be for a question and add not for a negative. The -ing is on get as well as on an activity after to, if there is one.

• Are you getting used to working with the new team?
• She isn't getting used to the new chair. It still feels uncomfortable.

There is nothing wrong with two -ing forms in getting used to working. Getting shows the process; working names the activity that is becoming familiar.

Past, present, future and perfect forms

These familiar-meaning expressions are not limited to the past. Choose the tense of be or get for the meaning you need. This differs from former-habit used to, which is a past pattern.

Perfect forms use have, has or had plus been for be, or got for get in British English. A past participle is the verb form that comes after have here: been and got are past participles.

• I've been used to working on my own for years. This describes a familiar state over that time.
• I've got used to using a paper diary again. This presents the change as achieved by now.
• By the time the lift was repaired, we'd got used to carrying the boxes upstairs. The change happened before another past event.

In American English, get also has the past participle gotten. I've gotten used to the diary is an American form, not an error. In the simple past, use got: I got used to it. Gotten is not the simple past form.

For a change in progress, use getting used to. For the familiar state, use be used to in a simple form, not am being used to. The verb after the final to can still be an -ing form: I'm used to writing here is not a present continuous verb phrase. Am getting used to writing here is.

After a modal or another verb

Words such as will, can and might are modals. Put the base form be or get after them. Used to keeps the same spelling. The choice still depends on whether you mean a familiar state or a change.

• You might be used to a lighter bag, so try this one before you buy it.
• I can't get used to the smell of this paint.

Other verbs can also introduce the pattern. In need to get used to it, the first to belongs with need to get. The second belongs with get used to it. They do different jobs.

• We need to get used to booking our seats in advance.

Become used to is another way of expressing the change. Cambridge describes it as more formal than get used to. The words after to follow the same noun or -ing pattern.

• You will become used to reading the smaller print.

Compare with former-habit used to

Used to + a base verb describes a former habit or state. It does not by itself mean being familiar. There is no be before used to in that former-habit pattern.

Used to carry says what happened before. Am used to carrying says how an activity feels now. Neither one is a replacement for the other without changing the meaning.

The spelling changes after did in an exam-safe former-habit question: Did you use to carry one? In Did you get used to carrying one?, keep used because get comes after did. The full range of former-habit spelling variants is on Used to for past habits and states. That variation is separate from the fixed spelling used in get used to.

A different be used: use for a purpose

You may also meet be used to + a base verb with a different meaning. The ordinary verb use means doing something with a tool or other thing. Its passive describes what the thing is used for. A passive puts that thing first, rather than the person using it.

• This strip of wood is used to hold the window open. Someone uses the wood to hold it open.
• This strip of wood is used for holding the window open.

Here the wood is not becoming familiar with anything. This is ordinary use in a passive form. Compare I'm used to holding this window open: the person finds the activity familiar. Do not cross out every occurrence of is used to + a base verb without checking its meaning.

In the familiar-meaning expression, used has an s sound, as in the past-habit expression. In the ordinary verb use, and its passive used, the sound is z. The matching spelling can hide this difference.

What comes next

Used to for past habits and states covers former habits, questions and spelling variants in detail. Preposition + -ing: look forward to, interested in, instead of develops -ing after prepositions, and State verbs and action verbs compares states with processes. For use as a passive verb, see The passive: be + past participle and Purpose: to, in order to and for. Go, get, do, make and have: main uses covers other meanings of get; this page is about familiarity, not every get pattern.