It's time the kids were in bed.

[Nathan Mckane]

What does this sentence mean?

It's time the kids were in bed.

Would you plz be kind enough to explain more?

 

[bhaisahab]

What does this sentence mean?

It's time the kids were in bed.

Would you plz be kind enough to explain more?

It means "By this time the children should be in bed".

 

[emsr2d2]

What does this sentence mean?

It's time the kids were in bed.

Would you plz be kind enough to explain more?

Bhaisahab has explained the meaning.

We use this phrase quite a lot, and also "It's about time..."

I am at a party. It's getting quite late and I have a babysitter waiting at home, so I might say to the host "It's time I was going".

A 45-year-old friend of mine still hasn't passed her driving test. In my opinion, it's about time she did!

 

[BobK]

:up: 'It's time...' refers to a convention/tradition/belief/common practice.... So 'It's time the kids were in bed' means they ought to be and they're not. If that convention/tradition/belief/common practice... has been badly violated, you can say 'It's high time...'. A less extreme violation - 'It's about time...'.

If they ought to be [according to that convention/tradition/belief/common practice...] but might not be (you just don't know) you can use the same form of words, but with the present tense: 'It's [the] time the night watchman [usually] has his nap, so it should be safe'.

b

PS The :up: was for B - I hadn't read the latest post when I mentioned 'about' as if it was something new.

 

[BobK]

PPS A better way of saying 'It's time...' refers to a convention/tradition/belief/common practice.... ' would be 'The phrase "It's time" implies a particular view of time - an appropriate time in the view of some unspecified person: the right time, in some sense.

b