Grammar - Would - Going to

[Emanuelli]

:roll: I'm really happy because I've just found this site. I was wondering if you could help me understand the uses of "would" and "going to" better. For example, if I'm telling a story in the past, can I use "would" (Last night they were traveling to London and they thought they would never arrive there.)

My second questions is about using "be going to" in the past. For example: "I was going to call you tomorrow but I didn't pay my phone bill."
If I used "would" in this sentence, wouldn't it be the same?

I still need to know the difference between "would" and "used to".

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you.

Emanuélli
manu874@hotmail.com

 

[Emanuelli]

Quick Reply

 

[Tdol]

Would can replace used to for actions, but not states- you can say ';when I was younger, I would play football every weekend', but not ''I would live in Nottingham when I was young'.

'Was\were goingto' can be used for plans that didn't come to fruition in the past, so it can't be replaced with 'would'. Ifyou lookat your example with 'would', it describes theuir ignorance of the future, not a plan. ;-)