be used to

I am used to lots of noise.

Be used to something
Be used to doing

Be used to is an expression. It is not a tense. If I say "I am used to Thailand", it is like saying "I am accustomed to
Thailand."

Do not confuse be used to with with the special structure used to do. They have different meanings.

Structure of be used to

The structure of be used to is:

subject + main verb + used + object

be to

Look at the structure again with positive, negative and question sentences:

main
verb
subject be not used to object

+ I am used to horses.

- He is not used to children.

We are n't used to big cities.

? Are you used to her temper?

Note that if the object involves a verb, we use the -ing form (gerund):

 I am not used to being lied to.

 He is used to working late.
 We aren't used to taking the bus.
 Are you used to cooking?
Why do we use -ing for a verb after be used to? Because we always use -ing for a verb after a preposition - and
the to is a preposition.

Use of be used to

The be used to expression is for talking about something that is familiar to us oreasy for us. For example:

 I am used to driving on the left.

It means that it is not a problem for me to drive on the left of the road. I am Japanese. In Japan, people drive on the
left. Now I am living in the USA where people drive on the right. Of course, I drive on the right in the USA, but when
I go to Japan it is easy for me to drive on the left because "I am used to it".

Look at these examples.

 I am used to hard work.

 I am used to working hard.
 He is not used to New York.
 He isn't used to living in New York.
 Are you used to fast food?
 Are you used to eating quickly?

Tenses

We can use be used to in any tense. We just conjugate the verb be in the tense that we need. Look at these
examples:

 When we lived in Bangkok, we were used to hot weather.

 I have been used to snakes for a long time.
 You will soon be used to living alone.