Which sentences are correct?

Question

Which sentences are correct? 1.	How long are you here for?2.	For how long are you here?1.	It's time we take the dog out.2.	It's time for us to take the dog out.

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

1. How long are you here for? [Y]
2. For how long are you here? [Y]

1. It's time we take the dog out. [N]
2. It's time for us to take the dog out.[Y]

Philip · Answer

Feebs111. How long are you here for? [Y]
2. For how long are you here? [Y]

1. It's time we take the dog out. [N]
2. It's time for us to take the dog out.[Y]

I see nothing wrong with the second #1. It's time we get your car fixed - it's time we finish painting the bedroom - it's time we do whatever. Very common in my circles.

Feebs11 · Answer

I would be quite happy with "It's time we took the dog out".

Cool Breeze · Answer

Feebs11I would be quite happy with "It's time we took the dog out".

That's what we say in Helsinki English as well.

CB

BarbaraPA · Answer

That's interesting. I find "It's time [present tense]" just fine too. I never knew it was another American English oddity.

On another note, I also think you can delete the "for" in the first pair: How long are you staying?

Delmobile · Answer

I think I've heard this construction most often in the past tense: it's time we painted the bedroom, it's time we got your car fixed. But that makes even less sense grammatically, doesn't it.

And I think "it's time + pronoun" carries a different meaning than "it's time to..." The suggestion for me is "it's high time."

"It's time we ate lunch," for instance, doesn't just mean, "oh look, it's lunch time" but the suggestion that whatever else we've been doing has been going on quite long enough, or that I'm pretty hungry, or both. I've heard it (and used it) most often in a "scolding" way: "It's time we stopped fooling around and got serious." "It's time you learned how to do your own damned laundry." Etc.

Which sentences are correct?

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