Before discussing ruined plans, you need to know how to talk about the weather forecast (la météo or le bulletin) and its predictions (les prévisions).
| I listened to the bulletin this morning. | J'ai écouté le bulletin ce matin. |
| The forecasts were not good. | Les prévisions n'ont pas été bonnes. |
The Sequence of Tenses: Future to Conditional
If someone makes a prediction or promise in the present, they use the futur simple ("It will be sunny"). However, when you report that statement later using a past-tense reporting verb (like a dit or a annoncé), the reported verb backshifts to the conditionnel présent.
This mirrors English perfectly: "will" backshifts to "would".
| The bulletin announced that the weekend would be sunny. | Le bulletin a annoncé que le week-end serait ensoleillé. |
To express whether you can trust these predictions, use the reflexive verb se fier à (to trust / to rely on).
| One must not trust this forecast. | Il ne faut pas se fier à cette prévision. |
Broken Promises and Ruined Plans
You will frequently use this past-to-conditional backshift with verbs like penser (to think), croire (to believe), and promettre (to promise) to complain about inaccurate expectations.
Just conjugate the reporting verb in the passé composé, followed by que, and put the action that was supposed to happen into the conditional.
| The journalist said that the sky would stay clear. | Le journaliste a dit que le ciel resterait dégagé. |
| I thought that the fog would disappear quickly. | J'ai pensé que le brouillard disparaîtrait vite. |
| They promised that the storm would not come here. | Ils ont promis que la tempête ne viendrait pas ici. |
This structure is perfect for explaining exactly how a bad forecast ruined your day. Remember that in negative reported statements, ne and pas wrap around the conjugated conditional verb.
| I believed that my clothes would not be wet. | J'ai cru que mes vêtements ne seraient pas mouillés. |
| The weather forecast announced that the weekend would be sunny, but the rain ruined the picnic. | La météo a annoncé que le week-end serait ensoleillé, mais la pluie a gâché le pique-nique. |