In a previous lesson, J’allais + infinitive = was going to _ . This example that is captioned, is translated as ‘ I was enrolling at university’ instead of ‘I was going to enroll’.
Le lendemain, j'allais m'inscrire à l'université
- « Back to Q&A Forum
- « Previous questionNext question »
Kristin L.Kwiziq community member
Le lendemain, j'allais m'inscrire à l'université
This question relates to:French lesson "Expressing "the day after/the day before" in French with "demain/hier" vs "le lendemain/la veille" vs "le jour suivant/le jour précédent" (French Expressions of Time)"
Asked 1 year ago
This sentence can be considered indirect (or reported) speech, in which the speaker talks about an action in the future from a past perspective.
The two versions in English, namely, "was going to enroll" and "was enrolling" are not easily captured in French and would both amount to "j'allais m'inscrire".
Alan G.Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
I was expecting an explanation of why it isn't "je m'inscrivais".
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Ask a question
Find your French level for FREE
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level