(something) used to (be something/do something)

You use the phrase "used to be ___" to describe a quality that someone had in the past, but doesn't have now. It's useful for describing your life when you were much younger than you are now.

Of course, you can also use "was":

I was such a procrastinator when I was younger.

But "used to be" makes it clear that you're describing something far in the past, not something recent.

This phrase appears in these lessons: