iba a pasar

was going to happen

→ ir

phrase Uncommon #18,497

was going to happen Used to talk about a future event from the past. It can also mean “was going to” when followed by another verb.

SP: Pensé que iba a pasar algo malo.

EN: I thought something bad was going to happen.

Sabía que iba a pasar esto.

I knew this was going to happen.

Si hubiera sabido lo que iba a pasar, no habría hecho eso.

If I had known what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have done that.

Yo sabía que algún día iba a pasar alguna cosa.

I knew that one day something was going to happen.

— [REC] (2007)

Claro, ya me imaginaba que iba a pasar algo así tarde o temprano.

Of course, I already imagined that something like this was going to happen sooner or later.

Él sabía lo que iba a pasar.

He knew what was going to happen.

— Los falsificadores (2007)

Sabía que algo así iba a pasar.

I knew something like this was going to happen.

Me imaginé que iba a pasar eso.

I figured that was going to happen.

— La gran enfermedad del amor (2017)

Como que sabían lo que iba a pasar.

They seemed to know what was going to happen.

Sabías que iba a pasar esto.

You knew this was going to happen.

— El gran diluvio (2025)

Mi psicólogo dijo que esto nunca iba a pasar.

My psychologist said this was never going to happen.

— GOAT: Como cabras (2026)

Sabía que iba a pasar.

I knew it was going to happen.

Te dije que esto iba a pasar.

I told you this was going to happen.

Pongan cara de que sabían que eso iba a pasar.

Act as if you knew that was going to happen.

— Algunos hombres buenos (1992)

Sabías que esto iba a pasar.

You knew this was going to happen.

Iba a pasar a los helados.

I was going to move on to ice cream.

Pero este asunto iba a pasar a la Sección de Obras Públicas.

But this matter was going to be passed on to the Public Works Section.

— Vivir (1952)

Te dije que iba a pasar.

I told you it was going to happen.

— También la lluvia (2011)

Iba a pasar tarde o temprano.

It was going to happen sooner or later.