Future in the Past Grammar Quiz
12 multiple-choice questions on the future in the past — was going to, would, was about to, was to — describing what was expected to happen from a past viewpoint. B2–C1 level.
Keep practising the future in the past.
Future in the Past — FAQ
The future in the past describes an event or action that was still in the future from a chosen point in the past — what was expected, planned or imagined to happen later, seen from an earlier moment. For example: 'In 1990, nobody knew the internet would change everything.' At that past moment the change had not yet happened, but it lay ahead. English has several ways to express this, including 'was/were going to', 'would', 'was/were about to', 'was/were to' and the past continuous for arranged plans.
We take the structure 'be going to + infinitive' and put the verb 'be' into the past tense: 'was going to' or 'were going to'. For example, 'I am going to call her' becomes 'I was going to call her.' This expresses a past intention or plan viewed from a later moment. It is the past equivalent of the present 'be going to' future and one of the most common ways to talk about plans that existed at an earlier time.
Both look forward from a past viewpoint, but with slightly different uses. 'Would' often reports a future prediction, promise or general expectation: 'He said he would help.' 'Was going to' usually stresses a specific intention or arranged plan: 'We were going to leave at six.' 'Would' is also the standard reported-speech form of 'will', while 'was going to' is the reported form of present 'be going to'. In storytelling, 'would' frequently describes what was destined to happen later.
'Was/were about to' describes an action that was on the point of happening at a particular past moment — something just about to start. For example, 'I was about to leave when the phone rang.' It emphasises that the action was imminent, often interrupted by another event. You can add 'just' for extra immediacy: 'She was just about to speak.' The structure is 'was/were (just) about to + infinitive'.
'Was/were to + infinitive' describes a formal arrangement, schedule or destiny fixed at an earlier time: 'The talks were to begin the following week.' It is common in formal writing, news reports and narratives, and often signals events that were planned or fated. A related form, 'was/were to have + past participle', shows a plan that did not actually happen: 'The flight was to have departed at noon, but it was cancelled.'
When we report a statement about the future, the future markers shift back. 'Will' becomes 'would': 'I will phone you' → 'She said she would phone me.' Present 'be going to' becomes 'was/were going to': 'We are going to win' → 'They said they were going to win.' This backshift happens because the reporting verb (said, told, promised) is in the past, so the future is now viewed from a past standpoint.
Yes. Just as the present continuous can describe fixed future arrangements ('We are leaving tomorrow'), the past continuous can describe arrangements that were fixed at an earlier time: 'They were leaving the next morning, so they packed that night.' This use needs a future time reference (such as 'the next morning') and usually refers to a definite, organised plan rather than a vague intention.
By itself, 'was going to' simply reports a past intention; it does not say whether the plan was carried out. However, it is very often used to introduce plans that did NOT happen, especially when followed by 'but': 'We were going to get married, but we changed our minds.' Context and the rest of the sentence tell you whether the intended action actually took place.
Narratives are told from a past perspective, so writers constantly look ahead from that earlier viewpoint to hint at what was to come. Forms such as 'would' and 'was to' create suspense and a sense of destiny: 'Little did she know that the letter would change her life.' They let a storyteller foreshadow later events while keeping the action anchored in the past, which is why the future in the past is a hallmark of fiction, biography and history writing.
The future in the past is usually studied at upper-intermediate to advanced level (B2–C1). Learners should first be comfortable with the basic future forms ('will' and 'be going to'), reported speech and the narrative past tenses. Once those foundations are secure, the future in the past adds precision and natural fluency, especially for storytelling, reporting conversations and formal or written English.