This article is going to be a very interesting because here we are going to go back to the past and look at the future!
As you know, we have a past tense, a present tense, lots of future forms, but did you know that we also have the future in the past?
Sometimes we want to discuss or talk about something that was in the future at that time – to do this we put the future forms into the past.
Here are some examples of this:
At some particular moment we can say
It’s such a nice day today – I’m going to go for a run at lunchtime.
But now we will describe it as:
I was going to go for a run today, but I’m feeling a bit tired now!
It means, when we want to use the future in the past ‘going to’,
‘I’m going to’ becomes ‘I was going to’ –
“I was going to go for a run”.
We can use this for predictions or intentions that change, like my intention to go for a run, or for things that did happen. So,
“I knew it was going to be sunny today!”
Pay attention to the pronunciation though –
‘I was going to’
when we speak quickly becomes
‘I was gonna’.
“I was gonna go for a run today, but I’m gonna have lunch instead”.
Present continuous becomes past continuous
Look at this
“I’ve got to go; I’m meeting Neil at 10 o’clock.”
But now,
“Sorry I was in a rush earlier, I was meeting Neil at 10 o’clock and I didn’t want to be late.”
So, we use the present continuous to talk about arrangements in the future. When we talk about the future in the past, it becomes the past continuous. For example
“I was meeting a friend for lunch so I was in a hurry.”
We can also use this for arrangements that didn’t happen, but you intended them to happen.
Will becomes would
Earlier…
I’ve got to go Neil, I’ll call you back later.
Now,
“I told Neil I would call him later… I need to do that!”
When referring to the future in the past ‘will’ becomes ‘would’ –
“I said I’d call Neil.”
Remember, we normally contract would to ‘d’.
Is/am/are about to becomes was/were about to
“I was about to call you Neil! No honestly, I was just about to call you.”
So, when we talk about the future – something that’s going to happen in a short time, we use am about to
“I’m about to call Neil”.
When want to use this structure to talk about the future in the past, am about to becomes was about to.
“I was about to call Neil when he phoned me.”
Future perfect becomes would have + past participle
“I think I’ll have finished all my work by lunchtime.”
“It’s almost lunchtime, I thought I’d have finished all my work by now… but it’s taking ages!”
It means, when we talk about the future in the past using the future perfect, the future perfect form ‘will have + past participle’ becomes ‘would have + past participle’. So,
“I will have finished” becomes “I would have finished”.
Pay attention to the contractions again, so instead of saying
“I would have”
when we’re speaking we say
“I’d’ve”.
“I thought I’d’ve made lots of money by now!”
