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fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M14.234 10.162L22.977 0h-2.072l-7.591 8.824L7.251 0H.258l9.168 13.343L.258 24H2.33l8.016-9.318L16.749 24h6.993zm-2.837 3.299l-.929-1.329L3.076 1.56h3.182l5.965 8.532l.929 1.329l7.754 11.09h-3.182z\"\u002F>",{"id":47,"title":48,"author":49,"body":50,"cefrLevel":721,"date":49,"description":722,"exercises":723,"extension":783,"faqs":784,"gcseTier":49,"intro":49,"language":797,"lastUpdated":49,"meta":798,"navigation":799,"path":800,"seo":801,"stem":802,"verbSlugs":49,"__hash__":803},"pages\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Ffuture-in-the-past.md","Future in the past: was going to, would, was about to, and the grammar of plans that failed",null,{"type":51,"value":52,"toc":707},"minimark",[53,69,72,77,80,173,176,180,186,214,224,243,268,278,282,291,332,338,355,370,382,387,430,450,454,460,484,502,519,523,526,539,546,550,553,634,638,641,677,692],[54,55,56,57,61,62,61,65,68],"p",{},"English has a special corner of the grammar for plans that did not survive.\n",[58,59,60],"em",{},"I was going to call you."," ",[58,63,64],{},"She knew it would rain.",[58,66,67],{},"He was about to say\nsomething."," Each of these stands at a point in the past and looks forward from\nit, and each one quietly warns the listener that what was coming did not\narrive, or arrived differently, or was cut off before it could.",[54,70,71],{},"Grammar books call this the future in the past. Learners meet it late, which is\nodd, because it is the tense of excuses, regrets and interrupted moments, and\neveryday life is made almost entirely of those.",[73,74,76],"h2",{"id":75},"the-idea-move-the-camera-back","The idea: move the camera back",[54,78,79],{},"The ordinary future looks forward from now. The future in the past looks\nforward from a moment that is already over. Every future form you know simply\nshifts back one step:",[81,82,83,96],"table",{},[84,85,86],"thead",{},[87,88,89,93],"tr",{},[90,91,92],"th",{},"Seen from now",[90,94,95],{},"Seen from the past",[97,98,99,119,138,155],"tbody",{},[87,100,101,112],{},[102,103,104],"td",{},[58,105,106,107,111],{},"I ",[108,109,110],"strong",{},"am going to"," call",[102,113,114],{},[58,115,106,116,111],{},[108,117,118],{},"was going to",[87,120,121,130],{},[102,122,123],{},[58,124,125,126,129],{},"It ",[108,127,128],{},"will"," rain",[102,131,132],{},[58,133,134,135,129],{},"She knew it ",[108,136,137],{},"would",[87,139,140,148],{},[102,141,142],{},[58,143,106,144,147],{},[108,145,146],{},"am about to"," leave",[102,149,150],{},[58,151,106,152,147],{},[108,153,154],{},"was about to",[87,156,157,166],{},[102,158,159],{},[58,160,161,162,165],{},"The train ",[108,163,164],{},"leaves"," at 6",[102,167,168],{},[58,169,161,170,165],{},[108,171,172],{},"left",[54,174,175],{},"That is the whole mechanism. The interesting part is not how the forms are\nbuilt. It is what choosing them does to the meaning.",[73,177,179],{"id":178},"was-going-to-the-tense-of-derailed-plans","Was going to: the tense of derailed plans",[54,181,182,185],{},[58,183,184],{},"Was going to"," reports a plan or intention that existed at a past moment:",[187,188,189,197,206],"ul",{},[190,191,192],"li",{},[58,193,106,194,196],{},[108,195,118],{}," be a doctor.",[190,198,199],{},[58,200,201,202,205],{},"We ",[108,203,204],{},"were going to"," paint the kitchen this spring.",[190,207,208],{},[58,209,210,211,213],{},"She ",[108,212,118],{}," tell him at dinner.",[54,215,216,217,220,221,223],{},"Here is the part that matters. If the plan had simply happened, you would use\nthe past simple: ",[58,218,219],{},"I became a doctor. We painted the kitchen. She told him.","\nThe past simple reports facts. ",[58,222,184],{}," reports intentions, and the\nmoment a speaker reaches for the intention instead of the fact, the listener\nunderstands why. Something got in the way.",[187,225,226,231,237],{},[190,227,228,230],{},[58,229,60],{}," (I did not.)",[190,232,233,236],{},[58,234,235],{},"We were going to sell the house."," (We still have it.)",[190,238,239,242],{},[58,240,241],{},"He was going to say sorry."," (He did not get the chance, or the character.)",[54,244,245,246,249,250,256,257,259,260,263,264,267],{},"Very often the sentence carries its own ",[58,247,248],{},"but",": ",[58,251,252,253,255],{},"I was going to cook, ",[108,254,248],{},"\nwe went out."," Even without the ",[58,258,248],{},", the flavour of failure hangs over the\nform. English speakers use this deliberately. ",[58,261,262],{},"I was going to do it"," is the\npolitest available way of saying ",[58,265,266],{},"I did not do it",", because it shows the\nintention was there even though the action was not.",[54,269,270,271,273,274,277],{},"One honest exception: when the outcome is interrupted or simply not stated,\n",[58,272,118],{}," can stay neutral. ",[58,275,276],{},"She was going to say something when the door\nopened"," tells you the moment was cut off, not that she failed. But the default\nreading, with no other information, is that the plan and the facts parted\ncompany.",[73,279,281],{"id":280},"would-the-future-inside-reported-thought","Would: the future inside reported thought",[54,283,284,285,287,288,290],{},"When you report past speech or past thought, ",[58,286,128],{}," becomes ",[58,289,137],{},":",[187,292,293,309,323],{},[190,294,295,296,302,303],{},"Direct: ",[58,297,298,299,301],{},"\"It ",[108,300,128],{}," rain.\""," Reported: ",[58,304,305,306,308],{},"She said it ",[108,307,137],{}," rain.",[190,310,295,311,302,317],{},[58,312,313,314,316],{},"\"I ",[108,315,128],{}," write.\"",[58,318,319,320,322],{},"He promised he ",[108,321,137],{}," write.",[190,324,325,326],{},"Thought: ",[58,327,328,329,331],{},"She knew the shop ",[108,330,137],{}," be closed.",[54,333,334,335,337],{},"This ",[58,336,137],{}," points forward from the past moment of knowing, saying or\npromising. Whether the thing actually happened is a separate question, and\nthat is exactly what makes the form useful for telling stories:",[187,339,340,345,350],{},[190,341,342,344],{},[58,343,64],{}," (And it did. Or it did not. The sentence holds the\nfuture open.)",[190,346,347],{},[58,348,349],{},"He was sure the letter would come on Friday.",[190,351,352],{},[58,353,354],{},"Nobody thought the plan would work.",[54,356,357,358,361,362,365,366,369],{},"The last one shows the pattern at its best. ",[58,359,360],{},"Nobody thought the plan would\nwork"," almost demands a second sentence, and both continuations are available:\n",[58,363,364],{},"It did not"," or, better, ",[58,367,368],{},"It worked",". Writers set up the future in the past\nprecisely so that the facts can agree with it or betray it.",[54,371,372,373,378,379,381],{},"Full details of the tense shift live in\n",[374,375,377],"a",{"href":376},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Freported-speech","reported speech",". What matters here is the\nmeaning: ",[58,380,137],{}," after a past verb of speaking or thinking is not polite, not\nconditional, just future, seen from further back.",[383,384,386],"h3",{"id":385},"not-the-same-as-the-would-of-habit","Not the same as the would of habit",[54,388,389,390,392,393,396,397,399,400,403,404,408,409,411,412,414,415,418,419,418,422,425,426,429],{},"English has another past ",[58,391,137],{},": the one that reports repeated past actions.\n",[58,394,395],{},"Every summer we would swim in the river."," That ",[58,398,137],{}," means ",[58,401,402],{},"used to",", and it\nhas its own page: ",[374,405,407],{"href":406},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Fused-to-and-would","used to and would",". The\ntest is simple. Habit ",[58,410,137],{}," describes something that happened many times.\nFuture-in-the-past ",[58,413,137],{}," sits after a verb like ",[58,416,417],{},"knew",", ",[58,420,421],{},"said",[58,423,424],{},"thought"," or\n",[58,427,428],{},"promised"," and describes something that had not happened yet.",[187,431,432,441],{},[190,433,434,440],{},[58,435,436,437,439],{},"He ",[108,438,137],{}," walk to work every day."," (habit, it happened)",[190,442,443,449],{},[58,444,445,446,448],{},"He knew he ",[108,447,137],{}," walk to work for the rest of his life."," (future in the\npast)",[73,451,453],{"id":452},"was-about-to-the-interrupted-moment","Was about to: the interrupted moment",[54,455,456,459],{},[58,457,458],{},"Was about to"," means the action was moments away:",[187,461,462,469,476],{},[190,463,464],{},[58,465,106,466,468],{},[108,467,154],{}," leave when the phone rang.",[190,470,471],{},[58,472,210,473,475],{},[108,474,154],{}," knock when the door opened.",[190,477,478],{},[58,479,480,481,483],{},"He looked like a man who ",[108,482,154],{}," say something stupid.",[54,485,486,487,249,490,493,494,497,498,501],{},"It takes the base verb, never ",[58,488,489],{},"-ing",[58,491,492],{},"was about to leave",", not ",[58,495,496],{},"was about to\nleaving",". And it practically demands an interruption. Something that was about\nto happen and then simply happened is not worth mentioning; the form exists\nfor the moment when the phone rang, the door opened, the lights went out.\n",[58,499,500],{},"When"," is its favourite word.",[54,503,504,505,507,508,510,511,514,515,518],{},"If ",[58,506,118],{}," is the tense of derailed plans, ",[58,509,154],{}," is the tense\nof near misses. The distance between them is time: you can be ",[58,512,513],{},"going to"," visit\nParis for fifty years, but you can only be ",[58,516,517],{},"about to"," do something for a\nbreath or two.",[73,520,522],{"id":521},"why-these-forms-taste-of-failure","Why these forms taste of failure",[54,524,525],{},"Notice what all three have in common. Each one makes the listener stand at a\npast moment and look forward at something that, from where we are now, is\nalready decided. The speaker knows how it ended. The form withholds it, or\nhints at it, and the hint is usually bad news.",[54,527,528,529,531,532,534,535,538],{},"The reason is competition. English already has a perfectly good way to report\na past action that happened: the past simple. Every time a speaker chooses\n",[58,530,118],{}," or ",[58,533,154],{}," instead, the listener silently asks why the\nplain past was not available, and the answer is nearly always that the action\nnever made it that far. The grammar does not say ",[58,536,537],{},"the plan failed",". It just\ndeclines to say the plan succeeded, in a language where saying so would have\nbeen easy. Listeners do the rest.",[54,540,541,542,545],{},"That is why ",[58,543,544],{},"I was going to pay you back"," has never once, in the history of\nEnglish, been followed by the money.",[73,547,549],{"id":548},"common-mistakes","Common mistakes",[54,551,552],{},"Ranked by how often learners actually make them.",[554,555,556,579,591,607,619],"ol",{},[190,557,558,61,561,564,565,418,567,418,569,418,571,573,574,249,576],{},[108,559,560],{},"Using will after a past reporting verb.",[58,562,563],{},"She said it will rain"," mixes\ntwo viewpoints. After ",[58,566,421],{},[58,568,417],{},[58,570,424],{},[58,572,428],{},", the future is\n",[58,575,137],{},[58,577,578],{},"She said it would rain.",[190,580,581,61,584,587,588],{},[108,582,583],{},"Using was going to for things that happened.",[58,585,586],{},"I was going to visit my\naunt yesterday"," means you did not. If the visit happened, say ",[58,589,590],{},"I visited my\naunt yesterday.",[190,592,593,61,596,599,600,603,604],{},[108,594,595],{},"An -ing verb after about to.",[58,597,598],{},"I was about to leaving"," is wrong. ",[58,601,602],{},"About\nto"," takes the base verb: ",[58,605,606],{},"I was about to leave.",[190,608,609,61,612,615,616],{},[108,610,611],{},"Double marking the past.",[58,613,614],{},"I was going to went"," is wrong. Only the first\nverb carries the past: ",[58,617,618],{},"I was going to go.",[190,620,621,61,624,627,628,630,631],{},[108,622,623],{},"Confusing the two woulds.",[58,625,626],{},"When I was young I would be a doctor"," reads\nas a habit and makes no sense. A derailed ambition needs ",[58,629,118],{},":\n",[58,632,633],{},"I was going to be a doctor.",[73,635,637],{"id":636},"practice","Practice",[54,639,640],{},"Decide what really happened. Answers are below.",[554,642,643,649,655,661,671],{},[190,644,645,648],{},[58,646,647],{},"We were going to move to the coast."," Did they move?",[190,650,651,654],{},[58,652,653],{},"She was about to sign the contract."," What do you expect the next word to\nbe?",[190,656,657,660],{},[58,658,659],{},"He knew the answer would be no."," Is this about the past or the future?",[190,662,663,666,667,670],{},[58,664,665],{},"I painted the bedroom."," Why not ",[58,668,669],{},"I was going to paint the bedroom","?",[190,672,673,676],{},[58,674,675],{},"They would eat at the same table every night."," Plan or habit?",[54,678,679,682,683,685,686,688,689,691],{},[108,680,681],{},"Answers:"," 1. Almost certainly not; that is the form's whole job. 2. ",[58,684,500],{},",\nfollowed by an interruption. 3. Both: a past belief about what was then the\nfuture. 4. Because it happened; the past simple reports facts. 5. Habit; this\nis the ",[58,687,137],{}," of ",[374,690,407],{"href":406},".",[54,693,694,695,697,698,702,703,691],{},"The machinery for shifting whole sentences into the past viewpoint is on the\n",[374,696,377],{"href":376}," page, and the verbs that\ndo the reporting, each with its own grammar, are on\n",[374,699,701],{"href":700},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Freporting-verbs","reporting verbs",". For plans in the other\ndirection, seen from now, start at ",[374,704,706],{"href":705},"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Ffuture-tense","future tense",{"title":708,"searchDepth":709,"depth":709,"links":710},"",2,[711,712,713,717,718,719,720],{"id":75,"depth":709,"text":76},{"id":178,"depth":709,"text":179},{"id":280,"depth":709,"text":281,"children":714},[715],{"id":385,"depth":716,"text":386},3,{"id":452,"depth":709,"text":453},{"id":521,"depth":709,"text":522},{"id":548,"depth":709,"text":549},{"id":636,"depth":709,"text":637},"B1-B2","How English looks forward from a point in the past: was going to for derailed plans, would in reported thought, was about to for interrupted moments, and why all of them hint that things did not work out.",[724,742,762],{"type":725,"instructions":726,"options":727,"items":729},"which-one","Choose the form that fits each sentence.",[118,154,137,128,728,204],"would not",[730,732,734,736,738,740],{"prompt":731,"answer":118},"I ___ call you, but I lost my phone.",{"prompt":733,"answer":154},"She ___ leave the house when it started to rain.",{"prompt":735,"answer":137},"He knew the shop ___ be closed.",{"prompt":737,"answer":204},"We ___ paint the kitchen this year. We still have the paint.",{"prompt":739,"answer":137},"She was sure her sister ___ agree, and she was right.",{"prompt":741,"answer":728},"I knew he ___ come. He never comes.",{"type":743,"instructions":744,"items":745},"fill-blank","Write the missing word in each sentence.",[746,749,752,754,757,759],{"prompt":747,"answer":748},"I was ___ to be a doctor, but life had other plans.","going",{"prompt":750,"answer":751},"She was ___ to knock on the door when it opened by itself.","about",{"prompt":753,"answer":137},"He promised he ___ write every week.",{"prompt":755,"answer":756},"They said they ___ going to sell the house.","were",{"prompt":758,"answer":137},"I thought the train ___ be late, and it was.",{"prompt":760,"answer":761},"We were going ___ tell you tonight.","to",{"type":763,"instructions":764,"pairs":765},"match","Match each sentence to what it tells you about the plan.",[766,768,771,774,777,780],{"left":60,"right":767},"The call probably never happened.",{"left":769,"right":770},"I called you.","The call happened.",{"left":772,"right":773},"I was about to call you.","The call was seconds away.",{"left":775,"right":776},"I knew you would call.","A past belief about the future.",{"left":778,"right":779},"He promised he would call.","A reported promise, pointing forward.",{"left":781,"right":782},"I would call her every Sunday.","A past habit, not a plan.","md",[785,788,791,794],{"q":786,"a":787},"What does I was going to call you actually mean?","It means that at some point in the past you had the plan, and the sentence stops carefully short of saying you did it. Nine times out of ten it means you did not: I was going to call you, but the day disappeared. If you had called, you would simply say I called you. Choosing was going to instead of the past simple is what signals the gap between the plan and the facts.",{"q":789,"a":790},"What is the difference between was going to and was about to?","Distance. Was going to covers any plan or intention that existed in the past, whether the action was due in five minutes or five years: She was going to study medicine. Was about to means the action was seconds or moments away: I was about to leave when the phone rang. You can be going to do something for years; you can only be about to do it briefly.",{"q":792,"a":793},"When does would mean the future seen from the past?","Inside reported speech and reported thought. When the main verb is past (knew, said, thought, promised), will moves back to would: She knew it would rain. He promised he would write. The would points forward from that past moment, not from now. It is the same shift that turns I will help into He said he would help.",{"q":795,"a":796},"Does was going to always mean the plan failed?","No, but it always raises the question. If you finish the sentence with but, the plan failed: I was going to cook, but we went out. If the outcome is simply unknown or interrupted, it can stay neutral: He was going to say something when the door opened. What it cannot do is report a completed action. For that, English uses the past simple, and choosing not to use it is what listeners notice.","english",{},true,"\u002Fenglish\u002Fgrammar\u002Ffuture-in-the-past",{"title":48,"description":722},"english\u002Fgrammar\u002Ffuture-in-the-past","2WumvYK091Dm5bE92IbOjG1KkMrG7Re0D1ycF7sKof8",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":805},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M13 21h8M15 5l4 4m2.174-2.188a1 1 0 0 0-3.986-3.987L3.842 16.174a2 2 0 0 0-.5.83l-1.321 4.352a.5.5 0 0 0 .623.622l4.353-1.32a2 2 0 0 0 .83-.497z\"\u002F>",{"left":4,"top":4,"width":5,"height":5,"rotate":4,"vFlip":6,"hFlip":6,"body":807},"\u003Cpath fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M11 4.702a.705.705 0 0 0-1.203-.498L6.413 7.587A1.4 1.4 0 0 1 5.416 8H3a1 1 0 0 0-1 1v6a1 1 0 0 0 1 1h2.416a1.4 1.4 0 0 1 .997.413l3.383 3.384A.705.705 0 0 0 11 19.298zM16 9a5 5 0 0 1 0 6m3.364 3.364a9 9 0 0 0 0-12.728\"\u002F>"]