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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 • 1243 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

Related Comparisons

have a tendency to vs tend to tendency to vs tendency for tend to vs trend to have met or crossed over vs always tend to have met or crossed over vs alwyas tend to tendency of vs tendency to

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