It’s time we talked about it’s time. This expression, which indicates that the time for something has arrived, is both extremely useful and sometimes misused; for this reason, we can say it’s time I wrote about it!
There are two main meanings for the expression it’s time / it was time:
- To express that the time for doing something has arrived or had arrived.
- Patterns:
- it is/it’s/it was time + for + noun/noun phrase
- it is/it’s/it was time + verb phrase (to-infinitive)
- Examples:
- I’m hungry. It’s time for lunch.
- Yesterday I decided it was time to go home when I saw most people leaving.
- Patterns:
- To express that you think something should be done and that we think it should have been done before.
- Pattern:
- it is/it’s/it was (about/high) time + subject + sentence (past tense)
- Examples:
- It’s about time you talked to him, he’s been waiting outside for hours.
- Pattern:
This second usage is quite confusing for many people since we are using the past tense to refer to hypothetical future events. Nowadays this expression is sometimes seen in the present tense, but the traditionally accepted pattern uses the past for this expression, and we highly recommend that you do so.