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Anonymous Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

'Was to ruin him'

Hi!

I'm confused as to the grammatical tense of 'it was to ruin him' as it is expressing the future but from the past.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Naomi
  

Top answer

You may be confused, but you're also correct. The rumor is going to ruin him [in the future]. The rumor was [going] to ruin him.

— Philip

  • You may be confused, but you're also correct.
  • The rumor is going to ruin him [in the future].
  • The rumor was [going] to ruin him.
  • [the ruin was in the future of some point in the past]
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2 Answers
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You may be confused, but you're also correct.

The rumor is going to ruin him [in the future].
The rumor was [going] to ruin him. [the ruin was in the future of some point in the past]
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The grammatical tense is the simple past. (was)

The time is the future of the past.
It was to ruin him. ~ It was going to ruin him. ~ It would (eventually) ruin him.
CJ
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