Expresando creencias pasadas

Expressing past beliefs

Lila had always dreamed of becoming a famous musician, and she thought that her talent would be enough to make it big. One day, she received a call from a music producer who had heard one of her songs and was interested in working with her.

The producer promised to make her a star, and Lila believed him. She was certain that he would take her to the top, but as time passed, nothing seemed to be happening. She had recorded a few songs, but they weren't getting any airplay, and her concerts were sparsely attended. Disappointed, Lila realized that her dreams of becoming a famous musician were not going to come true after all. She thought she was going to be a star, but it looks like she was wrong".

Feeling discouraged, Lila decided to take a break from music and focus on other things. It wasn't until years later that she found her true calling and started a successful business that she truly loved. Looking back, she realized that her failed music career had led her to where she was meant to be all along. She thought to herself, "I thought music would be my path to success, but it turns out that it was just a detour on the road to my true calling".

How to express past beliefs

To express past beliefs, we use structures such as "I thought", "I believed", "I was certain", "I expected", or "I assumed", followed by "would" or "was going to" and the base form of the verb.

In the story, Lila used the structure "I thought + would/was going to + verb" to express her past beliefs about becoming a famous musician. For example, when she received a call from a music producer, she thought to herself, "I thought this would be my big break!" She believed that the producer's interest in her talent would lead to success in the music industry.

However, as time passed and Lila's music career did not take off as she had hoped, she realized that her beliefs about the industry and her own talent were not accurate. She said, "I was going to be a star, but it looks like I was wrong". In this case, the past tense "was going to" is used to show that her expectations did not come true.

Other examples of this structure in use might include:

"I believed he would come to the party, but he didn't show up". "She was certain the project would be completed on time, but it was delayed". "I assumed they would like the gift, but they didn't seem very happy with it"..

Let’s practice!

Rewrite the sentences using the structure "I thought + would/was going to + verb" and leave your examples in the comments:

a) They expected it to snow tomorrow. b) She was upset because the meeting took two hours, but it was supposed to be one. c) He was excited to get the job, but he got disappointed when he saw the email saying he was not hired. d) We were playing soccer very well against the other team, but at some point we stopped working as a team and we lost.