Check the grammar

[Mrs.Ema]

Hi
I'm Ema and I'm an English teacher in high school in Kuwait , I wonder if you can help me with the following sentence is it correct to say " It's high time you leave ."

Thanks a lot

 

[Horsa]

No, I'm afraid not. It should be 'It's high time you left.'

 

[puzzle]

Could you explain why is "left" ? Please.

 

[David L.]

The meaning of this expression -"it's high time ..." - implies it is past the time when something should have happened or been done, and so the action that needs/should have been done is in the past tense.

 

[puzzle]

Thank you, David.
But, you never say " it's high time to do sth / or going to do sth"?

 

[David L.]

"It's high time you realized that (money doesn't grow on trees.)" is the same as saying, "You should have realized years ago that..."

It always implies that the appropriate time for something has past, and the person still hasn't... (whatever it is). Hence, we can't place it in the future - "going to...".

But, you never say " it's high time to do sth?
Yes, as above; but again, it is not equivalent to saying, 'this is/would be a good time for you to (do something)" The time when it should have been done is always long gone, as above.

 

[puzzle]

Thank you again, David.