Future in the past

Question

In English, you can say:

I think I will do it

… which becomes the following, when put in the past:

I thought I would do it.

How do you express the future in the past in French? Present conditional just like in English?

J'ai pensé que je le ferais.

RomainValeri · Accepted Answer · 2013-06-06 07:43:33Z

5

Yes, conditional present is correct (J'ai pensé que je le ferais). There are also other possibilities, like :

Je pensais que j'allais le faire.

answered Jun 6 '13 at 7:43

RomainValeri

14.9k2 gold badges39 silver badges83 bronze badges

Nice. I guess it is the exact equivalent of "I thought I was going to do it", right? – Ricky Robinson Jun 6 '13 at 7:51
@Ricky Yes, that's it. – RomainValeri Jun 6 '13 at 8:43
3

I think we could also shorten it to "Je pensais le faire". – Kareen Jun 6 '13 at 16:26

add a comment |

1 Answer 1