It's time+simple past tense

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Aperisic

#264262 Fri, 08 Sep 06 04:51 PM

Well, there are several combinations

Isn't it time you did/went/… = Isn't it time when you did/went/… you ask if some past event had happened simultaneously with another past event

Perfectly, it should be: Wasn't that happening at the same time/during the period/at the moment when you lost your car? =>. Wasn't that (at the/in) time when you lost your car? => Wasn't it time you lost your car? => Isn't it time you lost your car?

(It is time when I was young. Present, is, that is here, and in the above example, is reviving the past or just a direct instructive question someone asks: Is it true that you spent all your money?)

Not to forget the other usages

Isn’t it time that this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations?

Is this program going to spend a lot of time to start and execute because it is so slow? or Is this program going to spend a lot of time to be developed because it is very complex?

This additional usage I added to say that time could mean a quantity of time.

Isn’t it time that this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations? => Isn’t it a (large) quantity of time that this program is going to waste far beyond our expectations?

Aperisic

Joined on Fri, Jul 21 2006

Full Member (409)

Simple past

Anonymous

#264281 Fri, 08 Sep 06 06:04 PM

Isn't it time you shift to a smarter drive?

In my opinion, the correct sentence would be:

Isn't it time you shifted to a smarter drive?

Am I right?

You're right. When the word 'time' is used, the following verb has to be in the past tense.

It's time we went.

It's high time we went.

It's about time we went.

Notice that even if an adjective is added, a past tense verb has to be used.

If 'time' is used in a question, the same rule applies: the following verb has to be in the past tense.

Yoong Liat

Anonymous

Verbs, Tenses, Simple past, Past tenses

Marius Hancu

#264292 Fri, 08 Sep 06 06:40 PM

Aperisic wrote:
Isn’t it time that this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations?

Is this program going to spend a lot of time to start and execute because it is so slow?

The latter sentence I understand and it's clear, but the two are definitely not equivalent, and the one in blue has is confusing and confuse.

Isn’t it time? has an idiomatic meaning (the one discussed in the original posting) , and you can't introduce it in other contexts without messing them up, because the reflex of the educated speaker is to recognize the idioms and react to them.

A more appropriate sentence to your translation would be, IMO:

Isn’t this (a) time which this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations (both during start-up and execution)?

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Simple past, Idioms, Translation

Marius Hancu

#264298 Fri, 08 Sep 06 06:56 PM

Aperisic wrote:

Isn't it time you did/went/… = Isn't it time when you did/went/… you ask if some past event had happened simultaneously with another past event

Wasn't that happening at the same time/during the period/at the moment when you lost your car? =>. Wasn't that (at the/in) time when you lost your car? => These are all OK. But:

Wasn't it the time when you lost your car? => Isn't it the time when you lost your car? You must use the the here, or the sentences aren't idiomatic and are confusing the reader. I would also argue you need when here.

It is the time when I was young. Same obs.

Marius Hancu

Simple past

Aperisic

#264303 Fri, 08 Sep 06 07:04 PM

Isn’t it time that we all live in?
Isn't it time that we can't stop?
Isn't it time that will catch us all at teh end?
Isn't it energy that this machine spends a lot? = Isn't it time that this machine spends a lot?

I do not say this is a perfect usage, it is very difficult to create a proper example, I am just saying that time in Isn't it time might be from a question when time is an object with sense period of time, time is in entirety from the begging of the world up to the end of the world, time as a physics measure, quantity of time. The structure is then similar to this question formula Isn't it dog that/who did this? Isn't it a diamante that was stolen?

In the above examples Isn't it time is not an expression, but really a question concerning time, just in a specific form.

That is all. I added it to complete the story. It is not worth further discussion even if I was not clear enough.

Aperisic

Expressions, Simple past

Marius Hancu

#264310 Fri, 08 Sep 06 07:21 PM

Aperisic wrote:

Isn’t it time that we all live in?

Isn't it time that we can't stop?

Isn't it time that will catch us all at the end?

Talking about Father Time here, I guess. I have no qualms with these.

Marius Hancu

Simple past

Marius Hancu

#264325 Fri, 08 Sep 06 07:57 PM

Aperisic wrote:
Isn’t it time that this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations?

Is this program going to spend a lot of time to start and execute because it is so slow?

OK, I've found another version which is closer to your formulation:

Isn’t it time, what this program is going to squander far beyond our expectations?

The comma and what are crucial, IMO, in eliminating the confusion with the idiom mentioned in the original posting (Isn’t it time, that ... ?) and clarifying the sentence.

Marius Hancu

Commas, Simple past, Idioms

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