Correct a sentence (subjunctive) 2

Hello Hela

I think the question you raised is very subtle. One of my grammar books (written in Japanese) says grammatically it should be a subjunctive construction but the book also says that now almost nobody uses "It's (high) time I/he/she were in bed" and almost everybody uses "It's (high) time I/he/she was in bed" instead. So I think you could take it as one of special usages of the past indicative.

I think you can get the concept of this sentence this way. Suppose a boy habitually gets into bed at 9:00 PM and suppose now the time is 9:30 PM. Then it would be natural for you to suppose that he went to bed. In this case you could say "it is time he was/went in bed". When you say to the boy "it is time you were in bed", you mean like this: "You are staying up till too late. The time you have to go to bed is already in the past. You have to rush into your bed!"

I made a google survey and got a result as follows:
(1) It's time to go to bed. 105,000 hits
(2) It's time for you to go to bed. 1,820
(3) It's time (that) you go to bed 13
(4) It's time (that) you should go to bed 9.
(5) It's time (that) you went to bed. 2773
The sentences #1 to #4 and #5 may be a little different. I think the sentences #1 to #4 would imply it is just a good time to do something, while the sentence #5 implies the time for doing something has already passed.

Now the use of the sentences of the type #3 seems very rare. Nevertheless actually they were used in the past. For example:
(6) It is time that we conclude. (Edgar Allan Poe)
(7) It is almost time that I prepare for the new role I have to play. (Conan Doyle)

Since my English writing skill is so bad I'm afraid you cannot take what I meant but I hope this will help you someway.

Hello Jim,

and what do you think of "It's about time she LEARNT to look after herself." is LEARNT in the simple past of the indicative or is it in the past subjunctive ?

Thanks a million for your precious help!
Hela

Thanks CJ for your answer,

I'm glad that you FEEL the verb "learnt" as a subjunctive because I have been taught that after the expressions "it's hight time", "it's about time", "as if/though", "if only", "would rather/sooner" and "wish" we needed the subjunctive mood. So you can understand how confused I was when I noticed that native English teachers on the web said that after "it's hight time" the verbs were in the indicative. But maybe it's only a question of personal usage and how modern English is evolving.

Thank you for your help and dedication to us, EFL learners.
Hela

Neither "had", "lived", nor "went" are parts of the verb "to be". Therefore it is impossible to say whether they are past indicative forms or past subjunctive forms. Other than forms, we also have what I call "feelings in the head". In that sense of "subjunctive" (i.e., a subjunctive feeling in the head) I believe it depends on the context and possibly on the speaker whether these words ("had", "lived", and "went") are subjunctive, i.e., elicit subjunctive feelings in the head of that speaker.

An equivalent question is: Is "starts" future in "Class starts next Tuesday"?
Well, yes and no. It's the "present tense" (in the sense of "form") and it's also "future time" (or "future feelings in the head"). To ask whether a single word like "went" or "starts" is present, past, indicative, subjunctive, future, ... is, in a way, to ask a question which has no answer, rather like asking "What's the difference between?" [I realize you framed it within the framework of an "if" clause, but even that is not enough context to give a complete answer.]

I find it useful when teaching those whose native language has a full register of subjunctive tenses (both forms and feelings) to use the descriptive grammatical words that make the most sense to the speakers of those languages. For a similar example, unlike some, I have no objection to calling "me" in "Give me a dollar" a dative pronoun. I use terminology strictly or loosely depending on the situation, my primary purpose being to help students acquire English.