§ 52. In addition to the Future-in-the-Past there are other means of expressing future actions from the point of view of the past.

1) The Past Continuous is used to express a future-in-the-past action which is definitely settled. The action is expected to take place soon after a definite past moment. The time of its realiza- tion is often, though not necessarily, indicated in the sentence by means of adverbial modifiers.

e.g. In the pocket of his dinner-jacket was a letter from Annette.

She was coming back in a fortnight. The last time I saw him, he said he was going on the stage.

2) To be to + infinitive, which is usually treated as a modal phrase, serves, like the Past Continuous, to indicate a previous arrangement, but in addition to that meaning it generally implies obligation resulting from that arrangement.

e.g. I've still got the letter. I was to post it. But of course later I forgot.

He was beside himself with excitement because his book was to be published next month.

"To be to + infinitive" may also serve to express orders or in- structions (mainly in reported speech).

e.g. I had already impressed upon her that she was not to men- tion my name to him.

There was a special order that no one was to come to the sta- tion to see the battalion off.

When it denotes a future action viewed from the past, "to be to + infinitive" may acquire the meaning of something destined to happen. (This meaning is not found with "to be to + infinitive" when it is used with reference to the actual future.)

e.g. And then came the offer of the research which was to occupy

so much of his working life. At that time I did not know what was to become of me.

3) To be going to + infinitive may have two different meanings: a) Premeditated intention, which means that the person denot- ed by the subject had been planning for some time to perform the action, that some preparation for the action had been in progress.

This use of the "going-to form" is chiefly found in object clauses.

e.g. Finn said he was going to write a letter to his uncle in Ireland. I told George what I was going to say to the Committee.

It is noteworthy that the Past tense of the "going-to form" may, however, be structurally independent, when it occurs in in- dependent sentences. In this case, in addition to premeditated in- tention, it denotes that the action was not carried out, i.e. the person indicated by the subject was prevented from carrying out his intention.

e.g. He was going to meet you himself, only his car was stolen. It's your birthday, Stan. I was going to keep it a secret until

tonight.

b) The speaker's feeling that the action was unavoidable, that it was imminent. This use of the "going-to form" is mainly found in reported speech.

e.g. If only we knew what was going to happen.

You always thought I was going to die, didn't you?

I knew he was going to regret the day he had ever written

that letter.

4) The Past Indefinite may be used in two different cases which are both structurally dependent:

a) With reference to a future action viewed from the past in clauses of time, condition and concession (in accordance with the rules of the sequence of tenses), e.g. So when Anna was leaving for France I said to her vaguely

that I would look her up when she returned. Probably she knew that whatever happened he would not

give her away. I told him if he didn't hurry up he'd get no breakfast.

Note. In clauses other than those of time, condition and concession, the Fu- ture Indefinite-in-the-Past is used even if these clauses are introduced by the con- junctions when and if.

e.g. I asked him if he would stay another week with us.

The time would come when they would all be proud of Tony.

b) In object clauses after one of the past tenses of to see (-= to attend), to take care or to make sure in the principal clause.

e.g. He knew that Rosalind would see that it did not happen. Mother took care that I held myself well.

§ 53. To sum it up, it should be mentioned that though the use of the Future Indefinite-in-the-Past, in theory, is similar to that of the Future Indefinite, its use is actually much wider. The use of the other means of expressing future actions viewed from the past is, on the contrary, much more restricted than the use of the same means with reference to the real future.

The Rules of the Sequence of Tenses