The difference between USED TO and WOULD

Used to and would are both use to describe something that happened regularly in
the past but doesn't happen any longer, as shown in the following two sentences
about quitting smoking:

1. I used to smoke, but I quit last year.

2. Whenever I craved a cigarette, I would chew gum instead.

However, there are two important differences between used to and would. The
first difference is that would should not be used unless it has already been
established that the time frame is in the past, while used to does not require
this. This example, with used to at the beginning, sounds natural:

 I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little.
Now I rarely watch TV.

However, when used to is replaced with would, the same example becomes
awkward and ungrammatical:

 *I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning when I was very little. Now
I rarely watch TV.

But if the past time frame is established before would appears, would sounds
fine.

 When I was little, I would get up and watch cartoons every Saturday
morning. Now I rarely watch TV.

The second difference between used to and would is that would is not used
with stative verbs such as love, be, understand, and feel. Compare these two
sentences with the stative verb love:

1. When I was a student, I used to love sleeping late on the weekends.

(natural and grammatical)
2. *When I was a student, I would love sleeping late on weekends. (awkward
and ungrammatical)

To summarize, the use of would is more restricted than that of used to. Therefore,
if you aren't sure which one to use, it's best to choose used to.

Used to / Would
Use:
  We say Used to to talk about something that was true in the past, but is not
true now.

There used to be a park here, but now there’s a shopping centre.

My grandmother used to have beautiful blonde hair, but now her hair is
grey.

You can say used to to talk about states (things that were true for a long period of
time) or repeated actions (things that happened several times).
I used to live in Denver. (True for a long period of time)
I used to go to the park every Friday. (A repeated action)
Write adverbs before used to.
I always used to cycle to school.
I never used to eat vegetables.

 You can use Would in a similar way to used to. It describes things that were
true in the past but are not true now.

When I was a child, my dad would read to me every night.

Would CANNOT be used to talk about states. It can only be used to talk about
repeated actions.
There would be a park here. => There used to be a park here.

Write adverbs after would.

I would always talk to my grandma when I had a problem.
Form:
used to
didn’t use to / never used
I / You / He / She / It / They / verb (infinitive)
to
We
would
wouldn’t
Questions
use to + verb (infinitive)
Did
you / he / she / it / they
Would verb (infinitive)
Common Mistakes:
Many students confuse used to do and be used to doing. This is another phrase.
It means ‘be familiar with doing something’.
I am used to live near here. => I used to live near here.