Model Sentences #5 The “future in the past”

What is the “future in the past?”  We often tell stories about something that happened in the past. Within those stories, people think or talk about the future.  EXAMPLES OF DIRECT QUOTATIONS USING FUTURE TENSE: Last year Sam lost his job. He was very nervous, but he thought, “I’ll find a new job next month.” Martin Luther King wanted to change laws and practices in the United States. He wanted everyone to stand with him in this fight. He said, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

However, in academic writing, we don’t use a lot of direct quotations. In these cases, we use would + base form of verb to talk about the “future in the past.” Last year Sam lost his job. He was very nervous, but he thought he would find a new job the following month. Martin Luther King wanted to change laws and practices in the United States. He wanted everyone to stand with him in this fight. He said, that in the end, we would remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. NOTES: Do NOT use quotation marks. Look at the pronoun change in example #1. Look at changes in “time words.”

Look at some more examples:  My sister said, “You’ll fail the test.” I told her, “I’ll pass.” And I got an A!  My sister told me I would fail the test, but I told her I would pass. And I got an A!  She told me, “He will steal your money!”  She told me he would steal my money.  She asked me, “Will you drive me to Michigan tomorrow?”  She asked me if I would drive her to Michigan the next day.

BE CAREFUL  There are other ways to talk about the future in the past. This is just one way.  We use the word “would” in MANY ways. This is just one use of “would.”

Practice: With a partner, change these sentences to “future in the past” with “would.”  The instructor said, “I’ll give you back your papers next week.”  The judge told the lawyer, “I’ll give you my decision tomorrow.”  The weatherman predicted, “This afternoon will be sunny and mild.” However, it was cold and rainy.  The instructor said she would give us back our papers the following week.  The judge told the lawyer he would give her his decision the next day.”  The weatherman predicted the afternoon would be sunny and mild. However, it was cold and rainy.