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### Reporting future plans from the past

When you report a statement about the future that was made in the past using a past-tense reporting verb (like **dijo** or **aseguró**), the original future tense (*Futuro Simple*) shifts to the conditional (*Condicional Simple*). 

For example, if the original promise was "The robot will clean" (*limpiará*), it becomes "The boss assured that the robot would clean" (*limpiaría*).

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### Visions of the future

This tense shift is perfect for talking about old science fiction predictions and retro-futurism. You will use the conditional to describe what people in the past thought the future would look like, from artificial intelligence to space travel.

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### Other reporting verbs

You aren't limited to just **decir** (to say) or **asegurar** (to assure). Verbs of thought and communication like **imaginar** (to imagine), **prometer** (to promise), and **anunciar** (to announce) trigger the exact same shift to the conditional when used in the past tense. 

Remember to conjugate the conditional verb for the person or thing performing the reported action (for example, *habitaríamos* for "we would inhabit").

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Past reported speech: future to conditional

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular subjects and 'ser' (yo soy, esto es)

Plural nouns and definite articles (los, las)

Plural pronouns and 'ser' (somos, sois, son)

Adjective agreement (-o, -a, -os, -as)

Indefinite articles (un, una, unos, unas)

Simple negation (no)

Yes/no questions

Regular '-ar' verbs (-o, -as, -a...)

Regular '-er' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Regular '-ir' verbs (-o, -es, -e...)

Locative adverbs (aquí, allí)

Question words (quién, cómo)

The verb estar (estoy, estás)

The preposition en (en)

Ser vs. estar

The verb tener (tengo, tienes)

Possessive determiners (mi, tu, su)

Origin and possession (de, del)

The verb ir (voy, vas)

Destination (a, al)

The personal 'a' (a)

Stem-changing verbs: e to ie

Stem-changing verbs: o to ue

Irregular first-person verbs

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, dos, tres)

Numbers 11 to 20 (once, doce, trece)

Counting by tens to 100 (treinta, cuarenta, cien)

Compound numbers up to 99 (veintiuno, treinta y uno)

Days of the week (el lunes, el martes)

The family and the personal 'a' (a mi tío, a mi prima)

Months of the year

Telling time (es la, son las)

Verbs of liking (me gusta)

Plural agreement with verbs of liking (gustan)

Degree modifiers (muy, mucho)

Formal address (usted, ustedes)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

Obligation (tener que)

Present continuous (-ando, -iendo)

Affirmative commands (tú, vosotros)

Basic Food and Drink

The Human Body: Head and Arms

The Human Body: Legs and Health

Wardrobe Essentials

Fresh Produce

Meals and Proteins

Public Transport

Hello and goodbye (hola, ¿qué tal?)

Thank you, sorry, OK (gracias, vale)

There is, there are (hay)

My building (la escalera, el ascensor)

Describing people (moreno, rubio, tímido)

Land and sea (el mar, el río, el norte)

Sightseeing (la plaza, la catedral)

Asking the way (cerca, a la derecha, todo recto)

In class (¿puedes repetir?)

Verb + infinitive (quiero comer, sé leer)

What's your name? (me llamo, encantado)

Phone, computer and email

Hundreds and thousands (doscientos, mil)

What do you do? (¿a qué te dedicas?)

Personal details (la edad, la fecha de nacimiento)

Me neither (también, tampoco, ni)

How much is it? (el precio, la vuelta)

What's the weather like? (hace sol, nieva)

Free time (el concierto, el tenis)

At the bar (¿qué vas a tomar?)

The Natural World

Demonstratives (este, ese, aquel)

Prepositions of place (encima de, debajo de)

Prepositional pronouns (para mí, contigo)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero to décimo)

Adverbs of frequency (a veces, nunca)

Exclamations (¡qué...!)

Indefinite pronouns (algo, alguien)

Indefinite determiners (algún, ningún)

Indirect object pronouns (le, les)

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

Double object pronouns (se lo, se la)

Verbs of preference (encantar, interesar)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Starting and finishing actions (empezar a, terminar de)

Adjective comparatives (más que, menos que)

Comparatives of equality (tan como)

Noun comparatives (tanto como)

Question	Answer
to assure	asegurar
the robot	el robot
The boss (f.) assured that the robot would clean the office.	La jefa aseguró que el robot limpiaría la oficina.
to imagine	imaginar
flying	volador
Yesterday my sister imagined that you would buy a flying car.	Ayer mi hermana imaginó que comprarías un coche volador.
the intelligence	la inteligencia
artificial	artificial
The journalist said that artificial intelligence would control the world.	La periodista dijo que la inteligencia artificial controlaría el mundo.
the hologram	el holograma
Years ago, nobody imagined that the hologram would be possible.	Hace años, nadie imaginó que el holograma sería posible.
the rocket	el cohete
The grandfather promised that the rocket would be on the moon.	El abuelo prometió que el cohete estaría en la luna.
to inhabit	habitar
A century ago, they assured that we would inhabit another planet.	Hace un siglo, aseguraron que habitaríamos otro planeta.
My father thought that the robot would use artificial intelligence.	Mi padre pensó que el robot usaría inteligencia artificial.
The woman said that the flying car would show a hologram.	La mujer dijo que el coche volador mostraría un holograma.
the colony	la colonia
The government announced that the rocket would arrive at the colony.	El gobierno anunció que el cohete llegaría a la colonia.
The professor assured that we would never imagine this invention.	El profesor aseguró que nunca imaginaríamos este invento.
The author promised that we would inhabit a space colony.	La autora prometió que habitaríamos una colonia espacial.
to state, to assert	afirmar
The scientist stated that robots would do all the work.	El científico afirmó que los robots harían todo el trabajo.
The company stated that the flying car would cost little.	La empresa afirmó que el coche volador costaría poco.
The government stated that soon there would be robots in every house.	El gobierno afirmó que pronto habría robots en todas las casas.
to mention, to remark	comentar
My boss mentioned that the robot would arrive on Monday.	Mi jefe comentó que el robot llegaría el lunes.
Yesterday my friend mentioned that someday she would travel to the moon.	Ayer mi amiga comentó que algún día viajaría a la luna.
The teacher mentioned that in the future there would be no exams.	El profesor comentó que en el futuro no habría exámenes.

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