past continuous for past habits?

[antonyan]

Hello
I was wondering whether it's correct to use past continuous to describe past habits. For example, istead of saying : I used to smoke in my late teens/ I smoked in my late teens/ I would smoke in my late teens, can we also say " I was smoking in my late teens" meaning I no longer smoke?
I remember asking my host family while in England aand they said it's correct, but I still doubt it and I've never used it.

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[HanibalII]

You can say 'I was smoking in my late teens' It has the same meaning as 'I smoked in my late teens'. However none of those sentences imply that you no longer smoke, merely that you smoked in your late teens.

If you want to imply that you smoked in your late teens but do not smoke any more, you could say 'I haven't smoked since my late teens'.


Not a teacher.....Yet

[5jj]

You cannot say, "I would smoke in my late teens" in this context.

[antonyan]

Could you please explain to me why "I would smoke a lot in my late teens" doesn't sound correct, as all the structures I used are supposed to be used with action verbs to state past habits according to my grammar books!

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Sorry for sticking so heavily on grammar books but for learners of English they're a source to be trusted if they don't get the chance to disprove them through another reliable source!