It's time we finished up this work?

[keannu]

My grammar books says that depending on which tense you use, "past tense" can be more forceful and regretful than "present tense" for "It's time" clause like below.

a.It's time we finish up this work.
b.It's time we finished up this work.=(It's time we shoud finish up this work)

Is b related to the nuance of imaginary result in conditional clause? I can't infer how it creates the nuance it it really means forceful and regretful one.

 

[lauralie2]

More like a sense of urgency, e.g., It's time we finished (We haven't finished, so we better get a move on and do it):

"It's time to [do something]" means that the time has just arrived for the action. 'It's time that" + past tense means "It's past time for [the action] to have taken place." This latter form carries more urgency, since the action should have taken place but hasn't.

Source

See also this explanation.
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