GET USED TO, BE USED TO, and USED TO

Used to
Meaning: We use ‘used to’ when we are talking about the past.
We use it to talk about something that we did regularly in the
past, or a situation that was true in the past.
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Examples: 1. I used to live in Cardiff. (note: ‘used to’ is followed
by the  bare infinitive  – in other words, the infinitive without ‘to’.
Here, the bare infinitive is ‘live’.)
2. He used to smoke, but he doesn’t smoke any
more. (note:  here, the bare infinitive is ‘smoke’.)
3. I didn’t use to eat oysters but now I love them. (note:  in the
negative and question forms, we omit the ‘d’ from ‘used’.)
4. Did you use to climb trees when you were a child? (note:  you
can see  here that we say ‘use’ instead of ‘used’, with  the ‘d’ is
omitted,  because it is in the question form.)
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Be used to and Get used to
Meaning: If you ‘are used to something’, you are accustomed to
it. This means that you are familiar with it and it is not strange for
you. If you ‘get used to something’, this means that you become
accustomed to it.
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Examples: 1. When he started his new job as a postman, he
found it very hard to begin work at 4 a.m. It took him a few
weeks to get used to waking up so early, but he is used to it now,
and in fact he now loves the early mornings! (note:  all the
underlined words after ‘be used to’  and ‘get used to’ are  nouns.
Here, ‘waking up’ is the  gerund  form of the verb.  Gerunds are
nouns made from verbs.  The gerund  form  is the  verb+ING.)
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2. When I first moved to London, I had to get used to living in the
city because I grew up in the countryside. I am used to living
here now, but it took me quite a long time to get used
to it. (note:  ‘be used to; and ‘get used to’ arefollowed
by  nouns.  In this sentence ‘living’ is a gerund – in other
words,  a  noun made from a verb.)
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So the structures are:
.
USED TO + BARE INFINITIVE  (for example: I used to live in
Cardiff.)
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BE USED TO  or GET USED TO + NOUN or GERUND.  (for
example: I am used to living in London.)
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The common mistakes that I hear so often are as follows:
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I am used to live in London. (note: we never say ‘am used
to  live’, because ‘be used to’ is followed by the gerund –ING  form
of the verb, or by a noun.)
.
He used to smoking but he doesn’t smoke any more. (note: we
never say ‘used to smoking’ because  ‘used to’ is followed by the
bare infinitive.)
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If you make these mistakes, people may not understand you,
because they have to guess which structure you are trying to say,
and their meanings are completely different! The correct versions
of these sentences are:
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I am used to living in London.
He used to smoke, but he doesn’t smoke any more.