Express habits in Spanish: “soler” (suelo / solía) 1

In Spanish we have the construction “soler + infinitive” to express the idea that something usually occurs, that someone does something as a customary practice or regularly in present time, or that someone used to do something in the past but not anymore.

This construction is equivalent to saying “used to” for the past or “usually” for the present. Look at these examples:

I need my beauty sleep so I usually sleep 9 hours.
Necesito un sueño reparador así que suelo dormir 9 horas.

My friend usually comes this way to go to work.
My amigo suele pasar por aquí para ir al trabajo.

It used to rain a lot here but now there’s a draught.
Solía llover mucho por aquí pero ahora hay sequía.

This is an unusual verb because it is only used in present indicative, imperfect indicative and present subjunctive. Here you have a box with the verb “soler” conjugated.