20.

was/were going to, was/were supposed to

20. was/were going to, was/were supposed to

When we talked about the use of be going to for expressing the future, we said it is used when we
have a plan or an intention to do something. The form was/were going to is used when we talk
about the plans or intentions we made in the past but they didn't happen, or won't happen in the
future. In Montenegrin and Serbian, we usually use the form with the verb htjeti (htio/htjela sam
da…) and in Croatian the verb kaniti (kanio/kanila sam…) for this purpose. (Kada smo govorili o
upotrebi be going to za izražavanje budućnosti, rekli smo da se koristi kada imamo plan ili
namjeru da uradimo nešto. Oblik was/were going to koristi se kada govorimo o planovima ili
namjerama koje smo imali u prošlosti ali se oni nisu ostvarili ili se neće ostvariti u budućnosti. U
crnogorskom i srpskom jeziku koristimo oblik sa glagolom htjeti, a u hrvatskom glagol kaniti, u
ove svrhe.

- I was going to study Spanish last semester, but I didn't have enough time. (=Namjeravao
sam da učim španski prošlog semestra, ali nisam imao dovoljno vremena.)

- We were going to buy that house, but it had already been sold. (Htjeli smo da kupimo tu
kuću, ali je već bila prodata.)

If we want to talk about things we agreed to do, or other people expected us to do, but we didn't,
we use was/were supposed to. It equals our expression trebalo je da. (Ako želimo da govorimo
o stvarima koje smo pristali da uradimo, ili su drugi ljudi očekivali to od nas, ali mi to nismo
uradili, koristimo was/were supposed to. Ovo odgovara našem izrazu trebalo je da.)

- I was supposed to book the rooms, but I forgot. (Trebalo je da rezervišem sobe, ali sam
zaboravila.)

- We were supposed to organise the party, but we lost the wallet with money. (Trebalo je da
mi organizujemo zabavu, ali smo izgubili novčanik sa parama.)

When we use was/were going to or was/were supposed to we actually apologise for not doing
something. It is expressed in the additional but clause, where we give the reason for not doing
something. (Kada koristimo was/were going to ili was/were supposed to mi se zapravo
izvinjavamo što nešto nismo učinili. To se izražava u dodatnoj but (ali) klozi, u kojoj dajemo
objašnjenje zašto nešto nismo uradili.)

Find additional examples and explanation about this subject in your Book, page 77, activity 5.
Then do exercise 7a) and b), at the same page. (pronađite dodatne primjere i objašnjenja o ovoj
temi u udžbeniku, strana 77, vježba 5. zatim uradite vježbu 7a) i b) na istoj strani.)

Key 7a).

2f, 3a, 4g, 5e, 6c, 7d

Key 7b).

2 Peggy and Tom were going to call Trevor and Sheila, but they lost their phone number.

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20. was/were going to, was/were supposed to

3 Leo was supposed to try and find the Bradleys' address on the Internet, but his computer wasn't
working.

4 Karen was going to to get her parents a present on Monday, but she couldn't find her credit
card.

5 Leo was going to buy himself a new suit last week, but he didn't have enough money.

6 Leo was supposed to get in touch with Jane Lewis, but he lost her phone number.

7 Leo's parents were supposed to go through their old address books, but they couldn't find them.

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