EXAMPLE

 

Was / Were going to and would

 

Past plans and intentions

Verb forms which can be used to talk about future plans and intentions can be used in their past forms to talk about past plans and intentions.

• He's going to spend New Year's Eve in London. (future plan)

• He was going to spend New Year's Eve in London. (past plan)

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• The Queen is due to visit Morocco next month. (future plan)
• The Queen was due to visit Morocco a month later. (past plan)

The verbs intend, plan and want, and expressions like have no intention of can also be used in the past to talk about past plans and intentions.

• I planned to spend the whole summer travelling.
• They had no intention of selling the house.

Expressing frustrated plans and intentions

The expressions meant to + infinitive, was/were meant to + infinitive and was/were supposed to + infinitive can be used to talk about frustrated plans and intentions - things that did not happen as planned or intended.

• I meant to tell you about it yesterday, but I forgot.
• Karen was meant to be chairing the meeting, but she was ill.
• You were supposed to be here at 6. Why are you so late?

The structure was/were going to + infinitive can also be used to talk about frustrated plans and intentions.

• I was going to phone you, but my mobile battery died.

Sometimes the past perfect of a verb or expression can be used to express a frustrated plan or intention.

• They had planned to spend the day walking, but it was too cold.

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