Future of the past...? How would I conjugate this verb?

Question

I want to say "I was a little sad, but I was relieved that the kids would no longer bother us."

Do I use some sort of form of subjunctive? I'm talking in the past tense but I'm also talking about the future of the past, if that makes any sense.

Answer 1

I think you can just go with the imperfect and the imperfect progressive:

Estaba un poquito triste, pero estaba aliviado que los niños no iban a molestarnos nunca más.

Something like that.

Not bad, Kevin! "Estaba un poco triste pero aliviado al saber que los niños ya no nos molestarían jamás." - 005faa61, Aug 7, 2010

That looks better. - KevinB, Aug 7, 2010

Answer 2

The "future of the past" is the conditional tense.

examples: "I say I will go" (present tense + future tense) vs. "I said I would go" (past tense + conditional tense).

Obviously not every "would" is automatically conditional, but when you intend the "would" to indicate the future of the past, you need conditional. Julian Chivas said it perfectly in his comment.