“Used to” vs. “Am used to”

I used to live in San Francisco.

I am used to living in San Francisco.

Take a look at the two sentences above. They are very similar, but have very different meanings!

What’s the difference?

First: Notice how the two sentences are different.

Sentence 1 says  “used to live,” while sentence 2 says “am used to living.”

“Used to” refers to a past situation or habit that continued for a period of time in the past, but is not happening now.

“I used to smoke.” = In the past, I had a smoking habit, but now do not.

“I used to live in San Francisco.” = In the past, I lived in San Francisco, but now do not.

“Am used to” means to be familiar with it accustomed to something.

“I am used to riding the train to work, not driving.” = Riding the train to work is familiar and normal to me, but driving is not.

“I am used to living in San Francisco.” = I live in San Francisco and it is familiar and normal to me.

An easy way to remember this is that “am used to” uses the “-ing” form of the verb, similar to present continuous, and is referring to a current, normal situation.

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