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In the movie Star Wars, one of Mace Windu(S.Jackson)'s line reads such that:

I think it is time we informed the Senate that our ability to use the Force has diminished.

Is saying 'inform the Senate' rather than 'informed the Senate' technically wrong?

mplungjan
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user72119
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  • You can say “I think it is time we inform the Senate” in the present tense without any change in meaning. Both are equally correct. There may be some cases (or some verbs) that sound more natural and idiomatic in either the present or the past tense, but in general, you can use either tense in this type of construction. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 16 '14 at 09:46
  • Related. – tchrist Feb 16 '23 at 00:07

1 Answers1

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It is correct:

IT'S (HIGH) TIME + PAST SUBJUNCTIVE

It's (high) time + past subjunctive expresses that something should be done and that it is already a bit late:

It's time you went to bed. You'll have to get up early tomorrow. It's high time I bought a new pair of jeans. It's about time this road was completed. They've been working on it for months. When we say that the right time has arrived for something and we are still in time, we can use the following patterns:

It's time (for you) to go to bed. It's time to say goodbye. It's time for breakfast.

  • I would personally not use the subjunctive here. Indicative sounds much more natural, and in some cases a present tense (again, indicative) sounds more natural: “It’s high time that crappy old car of yours was/is scrapped!” (not “It’s high time the car were/be scrapped!”). You even use the indicative yourself, indicating that you agree. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 16 '14 at 09:38