- I was about to call you. (我正要打電話給你) (正)
- I was about to call you in ten minutes. (我正要在十分鐘內打電話給你) (誤)
解說：Be about to (do something) 意為「正要；剛要；即將；將要 (做某事)」，經常與 just 連用來加強語氣。Be (just) about to 係用來指即將或很快就會發生的事情，但它不能與時間詞連用。再舉一例：
- I was just about to leave when the phone rang. (我正要走時電話響了) (正)
- I was just about to leave in ten minutes when the phone rang. (我正要在十分鐘內走時電話響了) (誤)
換言之，若句中有時間詞，就不能使用 be about to，而要用現在簡單式。例如：
- Hurry up! The professor is about to leave! (快點！教授就要離開了！) (正)
- Hurry up! The professor is about to leave in ten minutes! (快點！教授就要在十分鐘內離開了！) (誤)
- Hurry up! The professor leaves in ten minutes! (快點！教授十分鐘內就要離開了！) (正)