Le lendemain, j'allais m'inscrire à l'université

Kristin L.A1Kwiziq community member

Le lendemain, j'allais m'inscrire à l'université

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’. 

Asked 1 year ago
Chris W.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributorCorrect answer

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.C1Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

I was expecting an explanation of why it isn't "je m'inscrivais".

Kristin L. asked:

Le lendemain, j'allais m'inscrire à l'université

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’. 

Sign in to submit your answer

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
Let me take a look at that...