It is time + past tense verb

Question

Why is it that the phrase it is time must be followed by a past tense verb? e.g. It is (high) time we left for the train now.It is said that this is a subjunctive phrase meaning certain things should have been done quite some time before, and it is kind of late to get it done now.

Jhumjhum · Accepted Answer

I think it is not necessary to put past tense after it is time, you can say - It is the high time that we should leave for the train otherwise we will be late or it is high time to leave home for catching the train , or it is high time to take measures for preventing pollution else the world will be destroyed soon .

Anonymous · Answer

When you see seemingly unexplainable constructions like this in English, it is often the result of ellipsis, that is, words have been left out. I'm guessing that the original statement was: "It's high time, and we should have left hours ago." Over the years, for the sake of brevity, this was shortened to: "It's high time we left, isn't it?" Then further shortened to: "It's time we left, isn't it?"

There is apparently no reason why you cannot use the present, and I seem to recall hearing: "It's high time we leave, isn't it?" But the past version is apparently the one that has stuck in the usage and has become almost idiomatic, the past tense apparently giving a greater sense of urgency than the present - like when you say, "I need that report yesterday!"

RobinG · Answer

Thanks Jhum, yes I do agree with you that it's not necessary to use past tense after it is time, as you said, we can say it is (high) time that we should leave fort the train/ it is time to leave for the train. But my point is on the past tense verb after it is time phrase. But thanks anyway.

RobinG · Answer

Hello stranger thanks a lot for your input, good to know what the original statement was, I think it will help in some way.

It is time + past tense verb

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