Do native speakers say "It's time we go home'?

[Tan Elaine]

I was taught that "It's time we went home" is correct and grammar books say so. But do native speakers say "It's time we go home'?

Thanks.

 

[BobSmith]

[not a teacher]

Either sound find to me. I might say "It's time we go." but never "It's time we went." so I might add to the first one: "It's time we go home." But, I'm more likely to say "It's time to go [home]."

 

[bhaisahab]

I was taught that "It's time we went home" is correct and grammar books say so. But do native speakers say "It's time we go home'?

Thanks.

The majority of native speakers would not say that, they would use "went".

 

[Tdol]

I would not use go. (BrE speaker)

 

[5jj]

If you are taking any form of examination, use only 'went'. 'Go' is likely to be considered wrong.

 

[Winwin2011]

I was taught that "It's time we went home" is correct and grammar books say so. But do native speakers say "It's time we go home'?

Thanks.

Not a teacher

Does "It's time we went home" mean ""It was time we went home"? If no, I wonder why we should use 'went'?

Thanks.

 

[CarloSsS]

Is this use of go considered wrong and grammatically incorrect in AmE too? I'm hinting at what BobSmith posted.

 

[5jj]

COCA gives several examples of it's time + subject + verb (present tense), so it appears to be acceptable in AmE

 

[shannico]

If you wanted to be on the safe side you could always say

It's time (for us, you, me, them...) to go home.

Not a teacher



Does "It's time we went home" mean ""It was time we went home"? If no, I wonder why we should use 'went'?

Thanks.

 

[Raymott]

Not a teacher

Does "It's time we went home" mean ""It was time we went home"? If no, I wonder why we should use 'went'?

Thanks.

I'd call it the past subjunctive. It's contrary to fact. We aren't going home at present. It's time that we did (not "that we do").
Here are some more examples:
1. "It's time you did your homework." Note the past tense form for something you haven't done yet.
2. "

If you wanted to be on the safe side you could always say ..." This is conditional, and hence uncertain. I believe it is a case of subjunctivity, but others might disagree.
​

Some people say that the subjunctive is dying in English, but it keeps turning up requiring explanation.

 

[emsr2d2]

I'd call it the past subjunctive. It's contrary to fact. We aren't going home at present. It's time that we did (not "that we do").
Here are some more examples:
1. "It's time you did your homework." Note the past tense form for something you haven't done yet.
2. "

If you wanted to be on the safe side you could always say ..." This is conditional, and hence uncertain. I believe it is a case of subjunctivity, but others might disagree.
​

Some people say that the subjunctive is dying in English, but it keeps turning up requiring explanation.

I'd never really considered it as the subjunctive and honestly, I couldn't quite work it out with this particular example, but when I converted it to "It's time we were leaving" instead of "It's time we left" or "It's time we went home", it made perfect sense.

The only thing I would say is that with "It's time you did your homework", it's more of a suggestion that it would be a good idea for the hearer to do their homework. If I said "It's time we went home" to the person I was with at a party, for example, I wouldn't just be suggesting that it was a good idea. I would probably be reaching for my coat and my car keys and then head out the door not very long after saying the statement.

 

[Raymott]

The only thing I would say is that with "It's time you did your homework", it's more of a suggestion that it would be a good idea for the hearer to do their homework. If I said "It's time we went home" to the person I was with at a party, for example, I wouldn't just be suggesting that it was a good idea. I would probably be reaching for my coat and my car keys and then head out the door not very long after saying the statement.

Maybe, but I think this is just two 'strengths' of suggestion - in the overall context of this grammatical point.
I'm not fixated on the term "subjunctive". If there's another term that describes the use of the past tense for uncertain or hypothetical actions in the future, I would consider using that instead. But this is the type of place that other languages (Spanish, Italian ...) would use their dedicated subjunctive/conjunctive tense. To me, if it waddles and quacks like a subjunctive....

 

[5jj]

I'd call it the past subjunctive. It's contrary to fact.

I agreed when I first read your post. Then I tried out "It's time I weren't here'. That sounded unnatural to me, even though I am an 'If I were ...' person. I tried COCA to see what the Americans do; they tend to be more particular about the subjunctive than we speakers of BrE, I found seven examples of 'it's/it is time I/he/she/it was', and none of 'it's/it is time I/he/she/it were'. So, I agree with your reasoning, but it seems not to be subjunctive. Quirk et al (1985.1013) say "The were-subjunctive cannot replace the hypothetical past in constructions introduced by It's time [that], eg: It's time I was in bed." They give no explanation.

 

[shannico]

Maybe, but I think this is just two 'strengths' of suggestion - in the overall context of this grammatical point.
I'm not fixated on the term "subjunctive". If there's another term that describes the use of the past tense for uncertain or hypothetical actions in the future, I would consider using that instead. But this is the type of place that other languages (Spanish, Italian ...) would use their dedicated subjunctive/conjunctive tense. To me, if it waddles and quacks like a subjunctive....

I totally agree. Nor do I think that English, as a language, is fixated on the subjunctive. If there's one great thing about English is its sporadic resort to subjunctive tenses compared to neo latin languages. It's funny to note, however, that in this particular case English would use the past subjunctive, whereas Italian would use the present subjunctive. I'm not too sure how it works in Spanish or French, though.

 

[sumon.]

It does not work in Bangla,too. The infinite form works in our language. It is time to go home.( if we translate into Bangla directly)

 

[Raymott]

I totally agree. Nor do I think that English, as a language, is fixated on the subjunctive. If there's one great thing about English is its sporadic resort to subjunctive tenses compared to neo latin languages. It's funny to note, however, that in this particular case English would use the past subjunctive, whereas Italian would use the present subjunctive. I'm not too sure how it works in Spanish or French, though.

It's the same in Spanish. But English doesn't have a proper subjunctive tense. The present subjunctive is the bare infinitive. But this is also the simple present. There would be no point using "It's time we go" as the subjunctive of "It's time we go" (although I'd argue that those who say "It's time we go" are doing just that. The form is the same, 'go', but this is a subjunctive use of it.