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tend to vs tended to

Both phrases are correct, but they are used in different contexts. 'Tend to' is used to express a general truth or habitual action in the present, while 'tended to' is used to talk about past actions or habits.

Last updated: March 26, 2024 • 1254 views

tend to

This phrase is correct and commonly used to express a general truth or habitual action in the present.

Use 'tend to' when you want to talk about something that is likely to happen or a habit that someone usually has in the present.

Examples:

  • I tend to get up early in the morning.
  • He tends to forget his keys at home.
  • People tend to divide things into two categories.
  • Voters tend to identify best with smaller electoral districts.
  • Criminal hideouts tend to be pretty nondescript.
  • Poor people tend to be honorable.
  • I tend to do it, although not much.
  • I tend to keep my reporters on a short leash.
  • They tend to cost innocent lives.
  • Statistically, property prices tend to increase over time.
  • More recent sales contracts tend to have shorter duration.
  • Public opinion polls tend to support this approach.
  • SVU detectives tend to see women as victims.
  • They tend to be mainly women.
  • People tend to abuse this privilege.
  • People out here tend to respect each other's privacy.
  • These babies tend to heat up, so shoot in three-second bursts.
  • The Kazon tend to be excessive in their use of force.
  • Most people today tend to vest themselves in science and cynicism.
  • People who kill repeatedly tend to have patterns.
  • Old people tend to be mistrustful.
  • And hostages tend to get killed.

Alternatives:

  • usually
  • often
  • frequently
  • commonly
  • regularly

tended to

This phrase is correct and commonly used to talk about past actions or habits.

Use 'tended to' when referring to something that was likely to happen or a habit that someone usually had in the past.

Examples:

  • She tended to be late for meetings.
  • They tended to argue about trivial things.
  • Early on, the outer planets tended to move around quite a bit.
  • Upon discontinuation, lesions tended to reappear at 4 weeks follow-up.
  • He had a fiery temperament and tended to play forte a lot.
  • The story tended to vary when she told it.
  • The guys who taught these things tended to get paid a lot of money being consultants.
  • Hippocrates noticed that a lot of his friends who also had that, tended to frequently grab their chests and die.
  • Patients tended to tolerate consolidation and maintenance treatment with less toxicity than in induction.
  • Africa's parliaments have tended to be neglected institutions.
  • It was not so long ago that policy-makers tended to shy away from globalisation.
  • 'families tended to be large.
  • 'In the East End of the Fifties, 'families tended to be large.
  • I mean, he tended to be a little, what's the word?Crazy.
  • Meriweather was one of the smartest men I ever knowed, but he tended to lose parts of himself.
  • He was a writer and so his descriptions tended to be a little lurid.
  • We proposed a dynamic program tended to progress and change.
  • They tended to whisper around me.
  • But she just tended to the dog writhing in pain.
  • Ruxin has affairs that need to be tended to.
  • It's time you tended to your family.
  • Most of our cultural heritage has tended to look backward, romanticizing the past.

Alternatives:

  • used to
  • was inclined to
  • had a tendency to
  • was prone to
  • had a habit of

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