10 Future in the Past

When we are talking about the past, if we want to refer to something which was in the future at that time we can use different structures.

When we are talking about something in the past which was in the future at the time of speaking, we use Future in the Past structure.

Future in the Past structures are the past form of “will” and “be going to“:

• Would + verb;
• Was/were + going to + verb.

• They told me that they would ask for bills.
• The owner said that she would lose clients.
• I knew management was going to make an offer to me.
• Workshops were going to be open for 24 hours.

We use Future in the past to talk about ideas that in the past we thought something would happen in the future.

We use would for voluntary actions and promises, was/were going to for plans.

We use Future in the past to talk about ideas that in the past we thought something would happen in the future. For Future in the past we use past forms of “will” and “be going to“. While would is used for voluntary actions, was/were going to is used for planned actions.

The structure is as follows:

• Would + verb (e.g. My brother told that he would order some products from internet.);
• Was/were + going to + verb (e.g. Businessman said that he was going to invest in international trade next year.).

For example:
— “My brother told that he would order some products from internet.” = We are talking about a future action but in the past tense, that is why we use Future in the past and “will” becomes “would“.
— “Businessman said that he was going to invest in international trade next year.” = Businessman talked about a future plan in the past and that is why we converted “be going to” to a past form.

Let’s revise this content within the [Form] section. Take a look at the [Example] section that shows its use within a context.