Was going to, would

  • B2 · Upper-intermediate
  • Grammar lesson
  • 60 min
  • future in the past

The future seen from the past: At twenty, I was going to be a lawyer. I knew I would never work in an office. I was about to send my applications when my mother called. The student reads a woman's look back at the plans she made at twenty, tells would for the future from would for a habit, and talks about plans that changed and near misses.

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was going towouldwas about to

What's in the lesson

  1. 1Warm-up
  2. 2In this lesson
  3. 3Reading: the life I was going to haveReading comprehension
  4. 4What does it mean?Grammar exercise
  5. 5Find the future in the pastGrammar exercise
  6. 6was going to, would, was about toGrammar rule
  7. 7Which form?Grammar exercise
  8. 8Future or habit?Grammar exercise
  9. 9The weddingGrammar exercise
  10. 10Questions for your teacherGrammar exercise
  11. 11Say it naturallySpeaking practice
  12. 12Plans and near missesSpeaking practice
  13. 13About youGrammar exercise
  14. 14Wrap-up

Homework

  1. 1Homework: find the mistakeGrammar exercise
  2. 2Homework: what happened?Grammar exercise
  3. 3Homework: build the sentencesGrammar exercise
  4. 4Homework: a plan that changedDiscussion

Two slides from the lesson

Warm-up

A few questions about you before we start.

  1. When you were a teenager, where did you think you would live as an adult?
  2. Think of a plan that you made last year. What happened to it?
  3. Has a phone call or a piece of news ever changed your plans completely?

Grammar rule

was going to, would, was about to

The future, seen from a moment in the past

FormUseExample
was / were going to + verba plan or an intention then; often it didn't happenI was going to clean the garage on Saturday, but it rained all day.
would / wouldn't + verbwhat someone thought, knew, hoped or promised then about the futureIn 1999, my grandparents were sure that computers would never be useful to them.
was / were about to + verbvery soon; often with when + something that stops itI was about to fall asleep when the doorbell rang.

Negatives and questions

I wasn't going to tell anyone. · The coach said the game wouldn't be easy. · Were you going to call me back? · What was she about to say?

would or was going to?

After think, know, be sure, hope, expect and promise, both are fine: We knew the road would be icy. = We knew the road was going to be icy. For a plan that changed, use was going to: I was going to clean the garage, but… (not I would clean the garage, but…)

Watch out

  • This would is not a past habit (B1). Every summer, we would swim in the lake = a habit. I knew we would swim in the lake = the future, seen from the past.
  • A base verb after going to, about to and would: was going to cleaned → clean; was about to falling → fall; would to stay → stay.
  • When the future you talk about is already past now, use would, not will: In 2010, I was sure I will never leave my hometown (but I did) → would never leave.
  • were with we, you and they: We was going to… → We were going to…

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