Spoken English

I was about to + (verb) ; Day: 9

I was about to + (verb)

When stating ‘I was about to’ you are informing someone that you were going to do something, but another event prevented you from doing it. It is similar to ‘I am about to’ but the difference is that you will not do it any longer. Since you will not do it any longer, it becomes a past event. That is why we use ‘was’ instead of ‘am’

‘āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽ’ āĻŦāĻ˛āĻžāĻ° āĻ¸āĻŽāĻ¯āĻŧ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ•āĻžāĻ‰āĻ•ā§‡ āĻœāĻžāĻ¨āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›ā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¯ā§‡ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ•āĻŋāĻ›ā§ āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›ā§‡āĻ¨, āĻ•āĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤ā§ āĻ…āĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ˜āĻŸāĻ¨āĻž āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻ¤āĻž āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻŦāĻžāĻ§āĻž āĻĻāĻŋāĻ¯āĻŧā§‡āĻ›ā§‡āĨ¤ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ ‘āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ¸āĻŽā§āĻĒāĻ°ā§āĻ•ā§‡ āĻ†āĻ›āĻŋ’ āĻāĻ° āĻŽāĻ¤āĻ‡ āĻ•āĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤ā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§āĻĨāĻ•ā§āĻ¯ āĻšāĻ˛ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻ†āĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻŦā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¨āĻžāĨ¤ āĻ¯ā§‡āĻšā§‡āĻ¤ā§ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻ†āĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻŦā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¨āĻž, āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ…āĻ¤ā§€āĻ¤ āĻ˜āĻŸāĻ¨āĻž āĻšāĻ¯āĻŧā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ¯āĻŧāĨ¤ āĻ¤āĻžāĻ‡ āĻ†āĻŽāĻ°āĻž ‘am’ āĻāĻ° āĻĒāĻ°āĻŋāĻŦāĻ°ā§āĻ¤ā§‡ ‘was’ āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻŦāĻšāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻŋ

Here is an example conversation to help you understand.

A: Hi Mike. I need to ask you a favor.
B: Hey Bob. What do you need?
A: Can you drive me to the convenient store? My car is in the shop and we really need to get milk.
B: Sure. I can do that.
A: Were you in the middle of something? I don’t want to bother you.
B: I was about to watch a movie, but that can wait.

āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻŦā§āĻāĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¸āĻžāĻšāĻžāĻ¯ā§āĻ¯ āĻ•āĻ°āĻžāĻ° āĻœāĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ āĻāĻ–āĻžāĻ¨ā§‡ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ‰āĻĻāĻžāĻšāĻ°āĻŖ āĻ°ā§‚āĻĒāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤āĻ°āĨ¤

āĻāĻƒ āĻšāĻžāĻ‡ āĻŽāĻžāĻ‡āĻ•āĨ¤ āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ‰āĻĒāĻ•āĻžāĻ° āĻœāĻŋāĻœā§āĻžāĻžāĻ¸āĻž āĻ•āĻ°āĻž āĻĒā§āĻ°āĻ¯āĻŧā§‹āĻœāĻ¨.

āĻŦāĻŋ: āĻ†āĻ°ā§‡ āĻŦāĻŦāĨ¤ āĻ¤ā§‹āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻŋ āĻĻāĻ°āĻ•āĻžāĻ°?

āĻ‰āĻ¤ā§āĻ¤āĻ°: āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ•āĻŋ āĻ†āĻŽāĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻ¸ā§āĻŦāĻŋāĻ§āĻžāĻœāĻ¨āĻ• āĻĻā§‹āĻ•āĻžāĻ¨ā§‡ āĻ¨āĻŋāĻ¯āĻŧā§‡ āĻ¯ā§‡āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĻ¨? āĻ†āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻ—āĻžāĻĄāĻŧāĻŋ āĻĻā§‹āĻ•āĻžāĻ¨ā§‡ āĻ†āĻ›ā§‡ āĻāĻŦāĻ‚ āĻ†āĻŽāĻžāĻĻā§‡āĻ° āĻ¸āĻ¤ā§āĻ¯āĻŋāĻ‡ āĻĻā§āĻ§ āĻĒā§‡āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻšāĻŦā§‡āĨ¤

āĻŦāĻŋ: āĻ…āĻŦāĻļā§āĻ¯āĻ‡āĨ¤ āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ¸ā§‡āĻŸāĻž āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°āĻŋāĨ¤

āĻ‰āĻ¤ā§āĻ¤āĻ°āĻƒ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ•āĻŋ āĻ•āĻŋāĻ›ā§āĻ° āĻŽāĻžāĻā§‡ āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛ā§‡āĻ¨? āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ¤ā§‹āĻŽāĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻŦāĻŋāĻ°āĻ•ā§āĻ¤ āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻšāĻžāĻ‡ āĻ¨āĻžāĨ¤

āĻŦāĻŋ: āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ¸āĻŋāĻ¨ā§‡āĻŽāĻž āĻĻā§‡āĻ–āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽ, āĻ•āĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤ā§ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻ…āĻĒā§‡āĻ•ā§āĻˇāĻž āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĨ¤

In this case, he cannot say, “I am about to watch a movie” because he will not be watching it because he has to drive his friend. You use “I was about to” when you will not be doing something immediately because of some other event.

āĻāĻ‡ āĻ•ā§āĻˇā§‡āĻ¤ā§āĻ°ā§‡, āĻ¤āĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻŦāĻ˛āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¨āĻž, “āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ¸āĻŋāĻ¨ā§‡āĻŽāĻž āĻĻā§‡āĻ–āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋ” āĻ•āĻžāĻ°āĻŖ āĻ¸ā§‡ āĻāĻŸāĻŋ āĻĻā§‡āĻ–āĻŦā§‡ āĻ¨āĻž āĻ•āĻžāĻ°āĻŖ āĻ¤āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻ¤āĻžāĻ° āĻŦāĻ¨ā§āĻ§ā§āĻ•ā§‡ āĻšāĻžāĻ˛āĻžāĻ¤ā§‡ āĻšāĻŦā§‡āĨ¤ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ “I was about to” āĻŦā§āĻ¯āĻŦāĻšāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°ā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¯āĻ–āĻ¨ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻ…āĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ āĻ•ā§‹āĻ¨ā§‹ āĻ˜āĻŸāĻ¨āĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻžāĻ°āĻŖā§‡ āĻ…āĻŦāĻŋāĻ˛āĻŽā§āĻŦā§‡ āĻ•āĻŋāĻ›ā§ āĻ•āĻ°āĻŦā§‡āĻ¨ āĻ¨āĻžāĨ¤

Here are some examples:

“I was about to go out.”
“I was about to go to dinner.”
“I was about to go to bed.”
“I was about to go to work.”
“I was about to say the same thing.”
“I was about to call you.”
“I was about to send you an email.”
“I was about to mow my grass.”
“I was about to order us some drinks.”
“I was about to watch television.”

āĻāĻ–āĻžāĻ¨ā§‡ āĻ•āĻŋāĻ›ā§ āĻ‰āĻĻāĻžāĻšāĻ°āĻŖāĻƒ:

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻŦāĻžāĻ‡āĻ°ā§‡ āĻ¯ā§‡āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻĄāĻŋāĻ¨āĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻŦāĻŋāĻ›āĻžāĻ¨āĻžāĻ¯āĻŧ āĻ¯ā§‡āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ•āĻžāĻœ āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻ•āĻ‡ āĻœāĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋāĻ¸ āĻŦāĻ˛āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ¤ā§‹āĻŽāĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻ•āĻ˛ āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ†āĻĒāĻ¨āĻžāĻ•ā§‡ āĻāĻ•āĻŸāĻŋ āĻ‡āĻŽā§‡āĻ˛ āĻĒāĻžāĻ āĻžāĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ†āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻ˜āĻžāĻ¸ āĻ•āĻžāĻŸāĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻ†āĻŽāĻžāĻĻā§‡āĻ° āĻ•āĻŋāĻ›ā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻ¨ā§€āĻ¯āĻŧ āĻ…āĻ°ā§āĻĄāĻžāĻ° āĻ•āĻ°āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”

“āĻ†āĻŽāĻŋ āĻŸā§‡āĻ˛āĻŋāĻ­āĻŋāĻļāĻ¨ āĻĻā§‡āĻ–āĻ¤ā§‡ āĻ¯āĻžāĻšā§āĻ›āĻŋāĻ˛āĻžāĻŽāĨ¤”