"Was going to" translation

Question

How do you express the phrase "was going to" as in "I forget what I was going to say"?

V.V. · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-06T17:02:30.120

15

A usual interpretation is собирался (to do something ).But we also use хотел in this case meaning intention.

I forget what I was going to say--Я забываю,что собирался (хотел) сказать.

Since forget is often used instead of forgot or have forgotten(though some people consider it incorrect) we'd better say

Я забыл, что хотел сказать.

edited Aug 06 '16 at 17:02

answered Aug 03 '16 at 03:13

V.V.

Even though in English you can say "I forget..." when you actually mean "I forgot...", in Russian the former form has a different meaning, so you better use the latter: "я забыл что хотел сказать". – rustyx Aug 06 '16 at 13:26
There's no context. Can't you say "I (sometimes) forget what I was going to say"? – V.V. Aug 06 '16 at 13:56
Yes there is. Why else would the author mention the "as in" part? Also check this out. – rustyx Aug 06 '16 at 14:06
Thank you, it's very interesting. But they say it's incorrect to use pres.simple for past and they don't exclude a repetitive meaning. I am going to edit my answer. – V.V. Aug 06 '16 at 16:49
What is the difference between using собираться and собраться (besides being imperfective/perfective)? – casey Oct 07 '16 at 01:37
Aspect only, imperf/perf. – V.V. Oct 07 '16 at 05:37

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 05 '16 at 11:20

Depending on style, you can use:

...and many more! I assume you are already familiar with putting those verbs in a needed form.

Good luck!

2 Answers2