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Speaker 1: Do you have this problem when you talk about habits

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in English and you use the same grammar again and again,

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things like I eat breakfast at seven, or I go

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to bed late, or I work on Saturdays. Those sentences

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are correct, so no problem there. But if you always

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talk about habits that way, your English can start to

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sound a little flat or mechanical. The good news is

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Native speakers actually use several different expressions to talk about habits,

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depending on how strong the habit is, how they feel

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about it, and whether it's something now or from the past.

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Let's dive in.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City, and here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you, yeah, and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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This is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine sixty four, talking

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about habits in English always tend to keep and used to. Today,

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we're going to look at four very common and very

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natural ways Native speakers talk about habits in everyday conversation,

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and as we go, I'll show you how each one

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sounds a little different, even though they're all talking about

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repeated actions. Let's start with the strongest one, always. We

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use always that feel very regular or fixed. Sometimes it

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sounds neutral, and sometimes it shows emotion, Like you might say,

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I always drink coffee in the morning. That's just a

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normal routine, nothing special. It's just a part of your day.

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But now, if you change the grammar just a little,

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always can become more emotional. When we use always followed

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by an ing, we're usually reacting to someone's behavior and

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sometimes to complain. Like Jackie is always checking his phone

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during meetings here always sounds well annoyed. Or Jenny says

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her son is always forgetting something at school. Again, this

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sounds like a complaint. But and this is important, always

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followed by an ing is not only negative. You can

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use this pattern for positive habits, especially when you're praising

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someone or expressing appreciation. For example, my buddy Ed is

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always making me laugh. That's clearly positive. So the grammar

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pattern is the same, but the feeling changes. Always followed

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by an ng highlights a repeated action that stands out,

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and the context and the tone tells us whether you're

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complaining or praising. And speaking of complaining, when you need

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to vent, you can use keep followed by an ing.

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In this context, Keep means continue, and when something keeps

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happening or someone keeps doing something, it could be annoying

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or persistent. Like at work, my coworker keeps interrupting me

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when I talk. And it's not always other people. Maybe

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you have a bad habit that happens all the time.

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Like me, I keep forgetting to turn off the gas

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when I go out. Not good, right? That sounds like

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an ongoing problem. Well, I just need to get used

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to it. By the way, using keep followed by an

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ing isn't always negative. Like my student Yana, she keeps

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studying and practicing English every day because she wants to improve. Here,

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keep followed by an ing shows effort and persistence, So

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this pattern focuses on repetition and often carries emotion with it. Next,

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let's talk about tend to. Tend to is softer than always.

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It means usually, but not every time. Native speakers love

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this phrase because it sounds relaxed and thoughtful. For example,

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instead of saying I eat late, you might say I

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tend to eat late. That has a more natural sound

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to it, and you can use tend to when you

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want to talk about other people's habits as well, Like

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one of the students in my class tends to get

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quiet when she's tired. It doesn't happen one hundred percent

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of the time, but it happens often. Or in a

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more general context, someone might say people tend to spend

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money more at the end of the year, so tend

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to is perfect when you want to talk about habits

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in a relaxed tone. And finally, let's talk about used to.

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Used to is her habits from the past that are

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well no longer true. This one is very important for

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storytelling and conversation, like I used to walk to school

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when I was a kid, Yeah, that habit is finished.

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Or Sam used to live near her office, but now

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she works from home. You can use it for lifestyle

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changes too, like we used to eat out a lot,

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but now we cook at home. So used to is

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great when you're comparing then and now. If you think

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about it, each of these expressions lets you talk about

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habits in a slightly different way. Always sounds strong and fixed,

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tend to sound softer in general. Keep, followed by an

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ig focuses on repetition and feeling, and used to looks

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back at habits that have changed. That's why Native speakers

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don't rely on just one grammar pattern. We mix them

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up naturally. So here's a question for you before we

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wrap up. What's one habit you always do, What's something

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you tend to do, And what's one habit you used

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to have but you don't anymore. Leave a comment and

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let me know. And remember. The best way to remember

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English like this and any other word or phrase in English,

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is to take that word or phrase, write it in

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a sentence that's true for you or true in your world,

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and then memorize your sentences. That's how you build fluency. Yeah,

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learning another language is not easy, but it's not impossible,

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and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy english dot com show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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Happy English.