"Used to + verb" vs "simple past tense"

Question

Hi there, can anyone please tell me the difference between "used to +verb" and "simple past tense"? Which ones of them is correct in the following sentences?

1- When I was a child, I used to play/played in my uncle's garden every day.

2- I lived/used to live in France for five years. Now I live in India.

3- Rabindranath Tagore was a great poet. He won nobel prize in 1913. He composed many songs in Bengali. He used to live/lived at Jorasanko, Kolkata. He did not go to school. He used to study/studied at home.

Please note that Rabindranath Tagore died in 1941.

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

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Hi there, can anyone please tell me the difference between "used to +verb" and "simple past tense"? Which ones of them is correct in the following sentences?
1- When I was a child, I used to play/played in my uncle's garden every day.
2- I lived/used to live in France for five years. Now I live in India.
3- Rabindranath Tagore was a great poet. He won nobel prize in 1913. He composed many songs in Bengali. He used to live/lived at Jorasanko, Kolkata. He did not go to school. He used to study/studied at home.
Please note that Rabindranath Tagore died in 1941.

Please do not write in headline style. It is very disconcerting to read your question.

1.

When I was a child, I used to play in my uncle's garden every day. (This emphasizes that the action occurred frequently and regularly.)
When I was a child, I played in my uncle's garden every day. (This has basically the same meaning.)

2.

I lived in France for five years. Now I live in India.
I used to live in France. Now I live in India. (We do not combine a time expression with "used to")

3.

Either of these is ok.

He lived in Jorasanko, Kolkata. He did not go to school. He studied at home.

He used to live in Jorasanko, Kolkata. He did not go to school. He studied at home.

"Used to + verb" vs "simple past tense"

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