Grammar
So much so that Richard was to say.....
What's the meaning of was to say?
Where should we use this structure?
And in which part of grammar books I can find this?
Top answer
I would prefer to see more context, but "was to say" appears to be future-in-the-past -- in other words, describing what was going to happen in the then future. This "was to ~" is the past tense of the form "be to ~", which is used when something is planned or destined to happen in the future. For example, "I am to go to London tomorrow" (future relative to now), "I was to go to London the next day" (future relative to some point in the past).
- I would prefer to see more context, but "was to say" appears to be future-in-the-past -- in other words, describing what was going to happen in the then future.
- This "was to ~" is the past tense of the form "be to ~", which is used when something is planned or destined to happen in the future.
- For example, "I am to go to London tomorrow" (future relative to now), "I was to go to London the next day" (future relative to some point in the past).
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I would prefer to see more context, but "was to say" appears to be future-in-the-past -- in other words, describing what was going to happen in the then future. This "was to ~" is the past tense of the form "be to ~", which is used when something is planned or destined to happen in the future. For example, "I am to go to London tomorrow" (future relative to now), "I was to go to London the nex
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