How to Say “Used to” in German: Expressing Habitual Past Actions (A2–B1)

Jens Olesen
19 minutes ago
16 min read

Learning how to talk about habitual past actions in German is essential for telling stories and sharing childhood memories. In English, we often use the phrase “used to” (or sometimes “would” in the past) to describe things we regularly did in the past. German has its own ways to express this idea. This blog post explains how to say “used to” in German – perfect for A2 and B1 German learners looking to expand their grammar. We’ll cover the German Präteritum for past habits, useful time expressions like früher and damals, example sentences (1st and 2nd person, formal and informal), pronunciation tips, and even sample dialogues. By the end, you’ll be able to describe habitual actions in German with confidence!

Understanding “Used to” vs. German Past Tenses

In English, “I used to play guitar” clearly means you played guitar regularly in the past (but don’t anymore). German does not have an exact one-to-one translation for the auxiliary “used to.” Instead, German uses its normal past tenses (either Präteritum – simple past, or Perfekt – present perfect) plus context to convey the same idea. Often, this context comes from time expressions or words like “früher” (meaning earlier/back then). In fact, “used to” is usually translated by the adverb früher (which means “earlier, in the past”). For example:

Früher hatte ich lange Haare. – (I used to have long hair.)
Ich habe früher in Berlin gearbeitet. – (I used to work in Berlin.)

In these sentences, früher (literally “earlier” or “previously”) signals that we’re talking about a past habit or state. The verbs are just in a past tense (here, hatte is Präteritum of haben, and habe gearbeitet is Perfekt of arbeiten). German relies on context like this, rather than a special verb form, to express “used to.”

Key point: To say someone used to do something, German typically uses the past tense + a time clue such as früher, damals, or als… (when…). In the next sections, we’ll look at how the Präteritum is used for habitual past actions and introduce extremely useful time expressions that convey the “used to” meaning.

Using the Präteritum (Simple Past) for Habitual Actions

The Präteritum (simple past tense) is frequently used in German to narrate past events, especially in writing or storytelling. It’s also the tense you’ll often see in example sentences for repeated past actions (things you used to do). To express a habitual action in the past (i.e. “used to…”), you can use Präteritum and often include words like früher or immer (always) for clarity. For example:

Als Kind spielte ich jeden Tag draußen. – (As a child, I used to play outside every day.)
Wir gingen sonntags immer in die Kirche. – (We would go to church every Sunday.)
Damals arbeitete mein Vater bei der Post. – (Back then, my father used to work at the post office.)

In these examples, the verbs spielte, gingen, arbeitete are in the simple past tense, indicating past actions. Adding time words like als Kind (as a child), sonntags (Sundays), or damals (back then) makes it clear that these were regular or habitual actions in the past.

Notice the third example: “Damals arbeitete mein Vater bei der Post.” The word damals means “at that time/back then,” emphasizing we’re talking about a specific period in the past (in this case, “back then” when my father worked at the post office). Both früher and damals serve to mark an action as something that happened in the distant past or over an extended period.

German can also use “immer” (always) or similar expressions with the past tense to stress the habitual nature. For instance, “Ich ging früher immer im Urlaub reiten.” – “I used to always go horseback riding on vacation back then.” Here, ging is Präteritum (from gehen), and immer reinforces the idea of “used to”. In fact, a sentence like “Ich ging früher im Urlaub immer reiten.” is a perfect example of expressing “I used to go riding on vacation” in German. The combination of früher + [verb in past tense] + immer clearly conveys a past habitual action.

Common Verbs in the Simple Past

Let’s look at a few common verbs in the Präteritum, used in sentences that mean “used to ….” This will also help you recognize the simple past forms:

Ich wohnte früher in Hamburg. – (I used to live in Hamburg.) – wohnen (to live) in Präteritum is wohnte.
Als Kind spielte ich gern im Garten. – (As a child, I used to play in the garden.) – spielen (to play) in Präteritum is spielte.
Wir gingen damals jedes Wochenende wandern. – (We used to go hiking every weekend back then.) – gehen (to go) in Präteritum is ging(en).
Meine Mutter arbeitete früher in einer Bäckerei. – (My mother used to work in a bakery.) – arbeiten (to work) in Präteritum is arbeitete.

As you can see, German often simply uses the regular past form of the verb. There is no special “used to” construction – the habitual nature is understood from context (früher, damals, jedes Wochenende, etc.). In English you add “used to” or “would (do)”; in German you just say it in the past tense, possibly with a time adverbial.

Grammar Note: In conversational German, the Perfekt (present perfect) is more commonly used than Präteritum for most verbs – we’ll discuss that in a moment. But for written narratives or storytelling, using Präteritum like spielte, ging, arbeitete is perfectly normal and often preferred. So if you’re writing a story or describing childhood memories in writing, Präteritum is your friend.

Helpful Time Expressions for “Used to”

Certain time expressions in German are extremely handy for indicating habitual past actions. We’ve already mentioned a few, but let’s highlight them:

früher – literally “earlier” or “formerly.” This is the go-to word to convey “used to”. It implies something took place in the past, formerly. e.g. Früher bin ich viel geschwommen. – “I used to swim a lot (before).”
damals – means “back then/at that time.” Use it to refer to a specific period in the past that you have in mind. e.g. Damals gab es noch keine Handys. – “Back then, there were no cell phones.” (Implying in those days.) This word often has a nostalgic or story-telling connotation. Both früher and damals indicate a concluded past time, and can often be translated as “back then” or “previously”.
als… – als means “when” for single past events, but it’s also used in phrases like als Kind (when [I] was a child) or als Jugendlicher (as a teenager). These phrases set the scene for a past time frame. e.g. Als Kind spielte sie gern Klavier. – “As a child, she used to enjoy playing piano.” Similarly, Als Student… means “when (I) was a student…”. Using als… in this way is very common to talk about what you used to do at a certain age or life stage.
jeden [Tag/Montag/Sommer] – “every [day/Monday/summer]”. Using phrases like jeden Sonntag (every Sunday), jeden Sommer (every summer) etc., in the past tense inherently means it was a repeated/habitual action. For example: Wir sind jeden Sommer an die Ostsee gefahren. – “We used to drive to the Baltic Sea every summer.” The word jeden (every) signals the regularity.
immer – “always”. As a modifier, immer can emphasize the habitual nature: Ich habe immer vor der Schule Fußball gespielt. – “I always used to play soccer before school.” (Literally: I always played soccer before school.)

Using these expressions in combination with past tenses makes it crystal clear that you’re talking about habitual or repeated past actions. In fact, sometimes the time expression alone can convey “used to”. For instance, Montags habe ich Tennis gespielt. literally means “On Mondays, I played tennis,” which in context is understood as “I used to play tennis on Mondays.” Context is everything!

“Früher” vs. “Damals”

A quick note on früher vs damals, since both mean “back then”:

früher is a bit more general – it just means “formerly/earlier in time.” You can use früher even without a specific reference point, to talk about the past in a general way (your life earlier, a long time ago, etc.). For example, Früher war die Stadt viel kleiner. – “The city used to be much smaller (in the past).”
damals often refers to a specific time or circumstance that’s already understood. It’s like saying “at that time.” You might introduce a topic with In meiner Kindheit (in my childhood) and then continue with damals. E.g. Ich hatte damals keinen Computer. – “I didn’t have a computer back then (at that time).” In many cases, früher and damals are interchangeable, and you’ll hear both in stories about the past. For general use, früher is extremely common and might be the easiest choice for learners to sprinkle into sentences to mean “used to.”

Example Sentences (1st Person, 2nd Person – Informal & Formal)

To ensure you’re comfortable with different subjects, here are example sentences using “used to” constructions in German, covering first person (ich/wir) and second person, both informal du and formal Sie:

Ich wohnte früher in einer kleinen Stadt. – (I used to live in a small town.)
Wir sind damals jeden Abend spazieren gegangen. – (We used to go for a walk every evening back then.)
Als Kind hast du viel Lego gespielt. – (As a child, you used to play with Legos a lot.) – (informal “you”)
Haben Sie früher hier in der Nähe gewohnt? – (Did you used to live near here in the past?) – (formal “you”)

A few things to note from these examples:

In the wir example, “Wir sind damals jeden Abend spazieren gegangen,” we used the Perfekt (sind … gegangen) which is common in spoken German, along with damals to indicate it was a recurring past activity. This has the same meaning as “Wir gingen damals jeden Abend spazieren.” Both translate to “We used to go for a walk every evening.” The choice of Perfekt vs Präteritum here is stylistic (spoken vs written preference), not a change in meaning.
In the du example, “Als Kind hast du viel Lego gespielt,” the phrase als Kind already sets a past habitual context (“when you were a child”), and we used Perfekt (hast… gespielt) which sounds natural in conversation. You could also say “Als Kind spieltest du viel mit Lego,” which is perfectly correct and means the same (spieltest is Präteritum), but it might come across as more of a written style or formal statement.
In the Sie example, “Haben Sie früher hier gewohnt?”, we see a formal question form. Note the word order: Haben Sie früher…? (Helping verb first, Sie second). We used gewohnt (Perfekt) here. A formal question like this might be asked by someone who’s curious about an older person’s past, for example. The inclusion of früher makes it clear we mean “used to live”, not just “Have you lived here?” at some point. The listener understands we’re talking about a past habit/location, not a one-time event.

Pronunciation Tips for Key Phrases

German pronunciation can be tricky for new words. Here are some pronunciation tips for the key phrases and words we’ve discussed:

früher – Sounds like FROO-yer or FRUE-er (IPA: /ˈfʀyː.ɐ/). The ü in früher is a long “ü” sound (purse your lips as if saying “oo” but say “ee” – similar to the u in French tu). The r at the end is soft; in many accents it’s almost like “früü-ah.” Practice that long ü!
damals – Pronounced DAH-mahls (IPA: /ˈdaː.maːls/). Da- like “da” in father, and -mals with a clear ls. Stress is on the first syllable: da-mals. It means “back then.”
als Kind – Pronounce als kind of like “alts” ([alts] with a sharp s/z sound) and Kind as “kint” (the d sounds like a t at the end of a German word). So als Kind = “alts kint.” (Als = “when/as” in this context).
wohnte – Pronounced VOHN-tuh (IPA: /ˈvoːn.tə/). The h is silent, serving only to lengthen the “oh” vowel. So wohnt- sounds like English “vohnt” (rhymes with “loaned”). The -e at the end (-te) is an unstressed schwa sound – a quick “uh.” wohnte = “VOHN-tuh.” (This is the Präteritum of wohnen – to live.)
spielte – Pronounced SHPeel-tuh (IPA: /ˈʃpiːl.tə/). Remember, sp in German is pronounced like “shp”. So spiel- sounds like “shpeel” (rhymes with “steal”). Again the -te ending is a soft “tuh.” spielte = “SHPEEL-tuh.” (spielte is Präteritum of spielen, to play.)

If you master saying früher [FRÜÜ-er] correctly and remember the “sp” = shp rule (as in spielen), you’ll be well on your way. Don’t be afraid to elongate the vowels and pronounce those final -e’s softly – German past tense forms often end in -te or -ten, which should be voiced but lightly (almost like an English unstressed “-ta/-ten”). Practice these out loud to build confidence!

Perfekt vs. Präteritum: Which Should You Use?

You might be wondering whether to use the Perfekt (e.g. habe gemacht) or the Präteritum (e.g. machte) to talk about things you used to do. The answer is: both are possible, but it depends on context and personal style.

In spoken German, the Perfekt tense is far more common for past events – this includes habitual past events. A sentence like “Früher habe ich in München gewohnt.” is something you might say to a friend (casual conversation), and it indeed means “I used to live in Munich.” In a spoken context, nobody would blink at Perfekt here; it’s natural. Likewise, “Als Kind hast du viel gelesen.” (As a child, you used to read a lot) sounds fine in conversation.

In written narratives or formal writing, the Präteritum tense is often preferred. So in a book or a letter you might see “Früher wohnte ich in München.” – which is the same meaning, just using the simple past form wohnte (appropriate for written storytelling).

Importantly, the meaning is the same: both Ich habe früher in München gewohnt and Ich wohnte früher in München express the idea of “used to live in Munich.” The difference lies in register (spoken vs written) and regional usage. In Northern Germany, people might use Präteritum in speech a bit more; in Southern Germany and Austria, Perfekt is used almost exclusively in speech (except for haben, sein, and modals which commonly appear in Präteritum even in speech: e.g. Ich war, ich hatte are very normal in conversation).

For A2–B1 learners, a good rule of thumb is: if you’re speaking, you can stick to Perfekt + früher/als…, etc., to convey “used to.” If you’re writing an essay or short story, try using Präteritum, especially for description of past habits – it will sound more natural in written German. Of course, if you sprinkle in words like früher, damals, or immer, it will be understood in either tense that you mean a habitual past action.

Let’s compare two sentences to make this clear:

Früher bin ich jeden Morgen gelaufen. – This is Perfekt (with sein as auxiliary for laufen). It literally says “I have run every morning (earlier)”, but effectively means “I used to run every morning.”
Früher lief ich jeden Morgen. – This is Präteritum. It means “I ran every morning (in the past)” – likewise “I used to run every morning.”

Both sentences are correct. The first might be how you tell a friend casually, the second might be how you’d write it in a diary or hear it in a documentary voice-over. The inclusion of Früher and the context (jeden Morgen – every morning) makes the habitual nature clear in both cases.

Conclusion: Don’t stress too much about tense for “used to” – focus on adding the time expressions (früher, damals, jeden…, als Kind, etc.) that clue your listener/reader into the meaning. The tense will fall into place following the normal spoken/written conventions.

(For completeness: There is a construction “pflegen zu + Infinitiv” – e.g. Er pflegte zu sagen – literally “he used to say” or “he was in the habit of saying.” This is a somewhat formal or literary way to express a past habit. You might encounter it in writing or older texts. For example, “Früher pflegte ich, sonntags lange zu schlafen” sounds like “I used to habitually sleep in on Sundays.” However, as an A2-B1 learner, you do not need this form for everyday German; it’s good to recognize it, but sticking to the more common expressions with früher/damals + normal past tense will serve you best.)

Sample Dialogue – Informal (Freund/Friend)

To show how these phrases work in context, here’s a sample informal dialogue between two friends chatting about childhood. They use “du” with each other (informal) and reflect on things they used to do:

Anna: Was hast du als Kind gern gemacht?(What did you enjoy doing as a child?)

Ben: Ich habe früher viel draußen gespielt und bin jeden Tag Fahrrad gefahren.(I used to play outside a lot and rode my bike every day.)

Anna: Echt? Wir sind damals auch jeden Sommer ins Schwimmbad gegangen.(Really? We also used to go to the swimming pool every summer back then.)

Ben: Das glaube ich! Früher warst du total sportlich, oder?(I believe it! You used to be really athletic, right?)

Anna: Ja, damals hatte ich viel Energie. Heutzutage bin ich eher faul. (lacht)(Yes, I had a lot of energy back then. Nowadays I’m rather lazy.) (laughs)

In this dialogue, notice the use of früher and damals, along with past tenses:

Ich habe früher viel draußen gespielt… – Perfekt used to say “I used to play outside…”
Wir sind damals auch jeden Sommer ins Schwimmbad gegangen. – Perfekt again (sind ... gegangen) with damals and jeden Sommer to indicate the habitual nature (“every summer back then”).
Früher warst du total sportlich, – Präteritum of sein (warst) plus früher. Even in speech this is fine (people often say war/warst for past “was”). This means “You used to be really sporty.”
damals hatte ich viel Energie – Präteritum of haben (hatte) with damals. (“I had a lot of energy back then.”) Again, hatte is commonly spoken for “had.”

The friends easily understand from these cues that they are talking about past habits/regular activities, not one-off events.

Sample Dialogue – Formal (Doctor & Patient)

Now let’s see a formal context using Sie, for example a conversation between a doctor and patient discussing lifestyle. This dialogue shows how “used to” might come up in a polite setting:

Doctor: Haben Sie früher geraucht?(Did you use to smoke in the past?)

Patient: Ja, früher habe ich etwa zwanzig Zigaretten pro Tag geraucht.(Yes, I used to smoke about twenty cigarettes a day.)

Doctor: Und haben Sie damals auch Sport getrieben?(And did you do sports back then, too?)

Patient: Nein, leider nicht. Als Jugendlicher war ich ziemlich unsportlich.(No, unfortunately not. As a teenager I was pretty unathletic.)

Doctor: Gut, dass Sie jetzt damit aufgehört haben.(It’s good that you’ve quit it now.)

Here’s what we see in the formal dialogue:

The doctor asks, “Haben Sie früher geraucht?” – literally “Have you smoked earlier?” which idiomatically means “Did you use to smoke?” The use of früher clearly places the action in the past in a general sense (not at a specific time, but as a past habit). This is a very typical way to ask about a past habit (smoking) in German, and it uses the formal Sie.
The patient replies with “Früher habe ich etwa zwanzig Zigaretten pro Tag geraucht.” – “I used to smoke ~20 cigarettes per day.” Note the Perfekt tense (habe… geraucht) with früher. This is natural in conversation. The patient could also have said “Früher rauchte ich…,” which means the same, but using Perfekt keeps it colloquial. He adds detail “per day” to emphasize it was regular.
The doctor then asks “Und haben Sie damals auch Sport getrieben?” – “And did you also do sports back then?” Using damals refers back to that same time frame (when the patient was a smoker/in younger days). Sport getrieben means “engaged in sports”. Again Perfekt (haben… getrieben) is used, and the damals makes it clear we’re talking about “back then.”
The patient says “Als Jugendlicher war ich ziemlich unsportlich.” – “As a teenager, I was pretty unathletic.” The phrase als Jugendlicher (as a youth/teenager) sets the scene, and he uses Präteritum war (was) which is very common for sein. This implies “I used to be not very sporty in my youth.” It’s an indirect way of saying he didn’t use to do sports.

In both dialogues, the combination of proper time expressions and past tenses makes it clear when someone is describing how things used to be versus how they are now. With practice, you’ll start doing this naturally in German.

Wrap-Up: Talking About the “Good Old Days” in German

Describing habitual past actions in German might feel different without a direct “used to” verb, but as we’ve seen, it’s all about using the right tense and context words. Let’s recap the key takeaways:

German expresses “used to ___” by using the past tense (Perfekt or Präteritum) plus words like früher (earlier/back then) or damals (in those days). These words tell your listener that you’re talking about the past in general, not a one-time event.
The Präteritum (simple past) is often used for past habits, especially in writing or storytelling: Ich spielte, wir gingen, er arbeitete… etc., correspond to “I used to play, we used to go, he used to work…”. In spoken German, the Perfekt is just as important: Ich habe gespielt, wir sind gegangen, etc., with a time clue like früher or als Kind, carries the same meaning.
Time expressions are your friends! Words and phrases such as früher, damals, als Kind, jeden Montag, immer give the sentence a habitual past flavor. Früher is the easiest catch-all for “used to” – don’t hesitate to use it. For example, Früher habe ich Fleisch gegessen, aber jetzt bin ich Vegetarier. – “I used to eat meat, but now I’m vegetarian.” One little word früher transforms the sentence into a “used to” statement.
We provided examples in 1st person (ich/wir) and 2nd person (du/Sie) so you can talk about your own past habits or ask others about theirs. You can say “Hattest du früher…?” to ask a friend “Did you used to have…?”, or “Haben Sie früher…?” to politely ask someone older/new, “Did you used to…?” Remember to adjust verb forms for du vs Sie (e.g. warst du…? but waren Sie...?).
Pay attention to pronunciation of the new terms (früher, damals, als) so you’ll be understood when speaking. Pronounce früher with that long ü sound, als with a sharp s, etc., as per our tips above.

With these tools, you can now confidently talk about “the good old days” in German – whether it’s your childhood hobbies, past jobs, or habits you’ve since changed. Try making a few sentences about your own life: Früher ______, aber jetzt ______. (e.g. Früher habe ich in einer WG gewohnt, aber jetzt wohne ich allein. – I used to live in a shared flat, but now I live alone.)

Finally, if you want to continue improving your German (and maybe talk about your past and future in German!), consider working with a German tutor or checking out more resources. At Olesen Tuition, we specialise in helping learners from A1 to C2, so A2–B1 learners like you can get personalised guidance on tricky grammar topics like this. We hope this explanation of how to say “used to” in German has been helpful. Be sure to explore Olesen Tuition’s blog for more German grammar tips and real-life language usage examples. Keep practicing these structures – with time, you’ll talk about past habits in German as naturally as you do in English.

Viel Spaß beim Deutschlernen und bis zum nächsten Mal! (Have fun learning German and see you next time!)

Summary of Key Phrases: