This is an All Ears English Podcast Episode 2300.
It's time you mastered this English grammar.
Welcome to the All Ears English Podcast, downloaded more than 200 million times.
Are you feeling stuck with your English?
We'll show you how to become fearless and fluent by focusing on connection, not perfection with your American host, Aubrey Carter, the IELTS Whiz.
And Lindsey McMahon, the English adventurer.
Coming to you from Arizona and Colorado, USA.
And to get your transcripts delivered by email every week, go to allearsenglish .com forward slash subscribe.
How can you express in English that something is overdue or should have happened by now?
Today, get three grammar forms to do this in English.
Listen in today. Hey, Lindsey, how's it going?
Hey, Aubrey, what's shaking?
Oh, well, it's time I went on vacation.
I'm headed to Rocky Point this weekend.
I can't wait. Nice.
And it's weird that I open up by saying what's shaking.
Normally I say what's shaking, right?
What's happening? I dropped the ING, but for some reason it was in the role play.
So I decided I know I had a little role play here so that I could use the subjunctive mood as a spoiler.
That's what we're talking about today.
We got an amazing question about it.
And so I put for Lindsey to say, what's shaking when normally you just say, what's shaking?
Yeah, we loved it. We're going into subjunctive today.
And we like to get into grammar when it can be applied to connection, right, Aubrey?
To connection, not perfection.
So why don't we just dive in with the student question for today's episode?
Let's do it. Would you like to read it, Aubrey, for us?
How are you doing? This is Ahmad Kienis from Saudi Arabia.
My learning English journey completely changed five months ago once I started listening to your podcast.
I wish you all the best and success with your great podcast.
Thank you, Ahmad. It's amazing.
Amazing to hear that.
Yes. And then he says, a few weeks ago, I heard the following sentence from a speaker talking about his son, that it is time to go to sleep.
It is time he went to bed.
I didn't understand.
I'm not used to hearing similar sentences.
I understand the speaker meant the present while using the past tense.
Can you please clarify how we use the past tense to express the present?
I'm excited to hear a podcast about this sentence.
Best regards, Ahmad.
Such a good question.
So good. And I love that Ahmad asked this question because this is something that comes up, I would say less frequently, but when it does come up, you need to know what it means.
I can understand that being confusing when you see the present tense.
It's time that. But then there's this past tense verb.
It's time that he went to bed.
I don't understand.
Why are we switching from present to past?
What's happening here?
And the answer is subjunctive, which can be very confusing.
Okay. I'm really excited.
This is a high level grammar skill too, isn't Aubrey?
Probably around the B2C1 level, something in that world.
And, you know, guys, we have a C1 course coming very soon.
So get ready for it.
It should be out very soon.
Not sure what day this episode's coming out, but it's coming soon.
So be ready. Oh, exciting.
That is an amazing course.
We can't wait for it.
Keep your eyes open.
Your ears, your eyes peeled for it.
Yeah, it's good stuff.
All right. So what do we need to know?
Grammatically speaking, Aubrey, let us know.
Let's build the building blocks here.
Okay. So first really good question.
We, Lindsay, and I dove into subjunctive in a episode not too long ago.
Stay to the end and we'll share which one that is so that you can do more of a deep dive into how subjunctive is used.
It's actually a mood.
It's not a verb tense.
The subjunctive. So be sure to hit follow if you're missing these episodes because that was an awesome grammar episode.
So it's a mood and not a tense.
What is the difference between a mood and a tense, Aubrey?
How should we think about that?
Yeah. So if you think about a mood, we're talking about unreal or hypothetical situations.
Like instead of the actual verb and what is changing about the time of something, it's more about was, is this real, is this hypothetical?
Oh, I like it. Okay.
Okay. Maybe we can be specific with some with what is the formula then for the grammar that we need to know the construction.
Yeah. So this specifically what Ahmad is asking about is it's time with past subjunctive.
So that means you have, you know, the instead of the present tense verb, we use the past tense verb, which seems strange to have.
It's time he went to bed.
So we're just using the past simple form of the verb, which is surprising, but the good news here is you can often avoid subjunctive.
And today we're going to show you three ways you could say this.
First, we're going to break down how we use subjunctive mood to say this.
And then we're going to share two other ways that are equally correct.
That if you're a little stressed about subjunctive and you don't want to have to worry about it, there are other ways to say it.
Yeah. But I would say we want to give our listeners the option to use it too today.
Just to know, well, first of all, to understand it when you hear it and to experiment with it.
Maybe it feels a little out of your wheelhouse, but that is why we push our level and we try new things, right?
Yes. So that's what we're going to dive into first.
How do you use this with subjunctive?
So like we were saying, the mood of a verb tells you something about the speaker's attitude or feelings, their mood.
And so the subjunctive mood is related to a speaker's wishes, desires, or expectations.
So when we say it's high time someone went to bed, that's an expectation.
We're saying, I've expected you to be in bed already at this point, right?
So essentially the meaning is something is overdue, right?
Exactly. We'll often say it's high time to express the same meaning.
It's high time you were in bed.
So verbs in the present subjunctive take the infinitive form.
Verbs in the past subjunctive are identical to their simple past form.
So just like we were saying, it's the simple past tense verb.
He went. It's time he went to bed.
Okay, so let's give some examples to be really clear here.
Should we do the first example Aubrey?
Yeah, let's do it. Okay, it's time I got my hair cut.
It has gotten really long, right?
Yeah, so you're definitely implying like it's high time, it's past time for this to happen.
And that is implied with if you're using the subjunctive.
It's not just that it's the exact time for this to happen.
I'm ready. It means sort of it's past time.
It's past time, right?
It's overdue. I should have done it last week, but I still now I really need to do it, right?
I need to schedule that haircut.
Yeah, exactly. Or it's time I looked for a different job.
I need more flexibility.
And for both of these, you could add that high time.
We say it's high time.
I looked for a different job because this is implied just by using the subjunctive that it's past time.
Yeah, I would say high time feels a little older to me.
I don't know. Do you hear it these days or do you hear it more from our parents' generation, would you say?
Oh, that's interesting.
I hadn't really thought about that yet.
It doesn't sound outdated to me, but maybe a little less common.
Sometimes we add it almost out of necessity because if we're not using the subjunctive, we sort of need its high time to indicate that, to indicate that it's past due.
If not, we need the subjunctive.
Yeah, maybe it's because it's the mood concept, right?
Imagine grandparents saying this about their grandkids.
It's high time that child learned how to do X, Y, Z, went to school and...
Do you know what I mean?
It's kind of a... Yeah, that sort of judgment or sort of implying this judgment that it's past time or something.
All right. Cool. Yeah, so we said it's time plus the passive junctive.
So the construction here, right, it's got subject and then past tense of verb.
That's what really throws people off.
You might hear natives even make this mistake and say, it's time I get my haircut because they're sort of thinking I'm speaking about the present, I'm in the present, but really what's appropriate here is the subjunctive mood, which is conjugated a little tricky.
So it would be past, it's time I got my haircut or it's time I looked for a different job.
Yeah, and if you hear a native speaker make this mistake, obviously we don't correct them, just leave it alone, unless you're having a discussion about grammar, which hopefully you're talking about more interesting things like connection, how to connect, but don't necessarily mirror them, say it correctly
if you can, because we're doing this episode you know how to say it, just don't get hung up on it too much, right?
Yeah, good point, right?
Connection, not perfection.
You might hear mistakes about this, you might make them, it's okay.
That's why we wanted to give you a couple more options here.
We want you to be able to use the subjunctive mood, but there are a couple of different ways to express the same meaning.
And the next, the first one is just to say it's time followed by an infinitive.
Okay, yes, this is another good option.
So for example, it's time to go to bed, right?
Or it's time to cut my hair, right?
Means the same thing.
Time to look for a different job, yep.
It's the same meaning, there's the slightest nuance that means more like the correct time has arrived.
Like it is time to cut my hair, it doesn't mean it's past time.
So the way you would add that is to say it's high time, you know, it's high time I cut my hair.
Okay, got it. Yes, I like it.
So you're saying the meaning is slightly different here too, right Aubrey?
Is that what you mean by that?
It's very slight, but yes, when we use the subjunctive, it's implied that it's overdue.
It's past time. And if we use that phrase, it's high time.
That also gives us that implication of something being overdue.
And then these other constructs, where we say it's time with the infinitive, and the next one we're going to teach you means more like it's time now.
It's time to go to bed.
It's like it's not like you should have been in bed an hour ago.
It means it's time now, it's bedtime.
Yeah, and I think going back to number one, with the overdue, like if we compare these two sentences, it's time to leave.
It's a bit more neutral versus it's time we left.
You could also be using that to kind of put your foot down on like in some way.
So maybe it's the same exact, it's overdue, it's not overdue.
It's the moment to leave, but there's a certain emotion and a conviction to what you're saying.
You're trying to get your point across more.
It kind of gives me the impression that maybe you have told me a couple of times, it's time to leave.
And then we haven't left yet.
So they say, it's time we left.
Yeah, it's implied like last time.
I've already told you a couple of times we need to go, right?
Or I'm imagining a couple at a party.
And then I don't know, someone's upset.
One of the one member of the couple is upset and they say, come on, they grab their part and say, it's time we left.
Kind of an emotional thing a little bit, right?
Because it is that subjunctive mood of sort of an expectation or a hypothetical situation you're saying like, we should already have left.
That's why I'm using the past tense, right?
Yeah, really interesting.
Okay. Third example, third alternative or second alternative, right?
The third option here is to say, it's time followed by four.
And then what should have happened or what should be happening, right?
So say meaning is number two, the correct time has arrived.
So for example, it's time for you to go to bed or it's time for me to cut my hair, right?
And that doesn't mean literally you're cutting it.
It means you have to schedule an appointment, right?
Exactly. You could, the same meaning it's time for me to go get my haircut where this is dropping.
It's time for me to cut my hair.
It's time for me to get my haircut.
Or it's time for coffee.
Exactly. So you don't always, you'll see these first options, you have the pronoun.
It's time for me to do something, right?
The pronoun followed by the infinitive, but that's not, you know, a requirement.
You could just say it's time for breakfast.
It's time for coffee.
Yes, I like it. And then high time, does it go with this one?
Yeah. Both of these, you would add high time to get that same meaning as subjunctive, right?
It's high time we have coffee, it's the same as the subjunctive.
It's time we had coffee, that little bit of an implication of its past time.
Wow. There's so much in this grammar in terms of what we're conveying.
Isn't there, Aubrey?
Yeah, interesting. Okay.
Let's jump into a role play because we like to make English super natural.
So Aubrey, here we are discussing new eateries.
So places to eat. Yes.
I'll start us out. It's time we tried that new Italian restaurant.
I've heard it's great.
I agree. It's also time to check out that bakery downtown.
I wish I were there right now.
What are we waiting for?
I think it's time for us to jump in the car.
Awesome. So we used all of them here and we also threw in a regular subjunctive.
So let's go through this and show what we used here.
All right. So first, you said it's time we tried.
So this is the original chunk, right?
It's time in the subjunctive mood.
So instead of it's time he went to bed, any verb there, right?
You take try. It's time we tried that new restaurant.
Little bit of an implication of it's been open a few months now.
It's past time we tried it.
I love it. And then what did I say?
Then you said it's also time to check out the bakery downtown.
And this is our other option where you can say it's time followed by an infinitive.
So to check out, we have the phrasal verb checkout.
It's time to check out that bakery.
Good. And now we've got wish.
So I wish I were there right now.
So the verb wish combined with the subjunctive.
Exactly. So this is the subjunctive mood where we're expressing wishes and desires.
That verb wish often triggers the subjunctive.
Yes. Instead of saying, I wish I was there, which is a mistake you'll hear natives make, subjunctive for correct grammar, you should say, I wish I were there right now.
And I bet seven out of 10 native speakers make that mistake too.
So they don't even realize they're making it.
Or they honestly make it on purpose.
Sometimes I make that mistake on purpose.
Because we've done episodes about this.
You want to blend in.
You want to fit in your environment, right?
Who's around you. And if you're around people that are speaking in fancier ways, maybe at work, you might say it correctly.
And then maybe if you're at the football game tailgating, maybe you don't.
I'm just guessing for an example here.
Absolutely. That's the interesting thing.
One of the many interesting things about subjunctive in English is in informal speech, it's often not used.
And so you might even be aware of how to use the subjunctive and not use it, because it might sound odd to the people around you.
But you would then use it when writing, when trying to uplevel your speech and your grammar.
It's really more like colloquial speech that will often leave off the subjunctive.
Exactly. Or maybe Monday morning at work or something, for example.
Yeah. Being very informal.
Really interesting.
Okay. And then the last one was, did we go through that?
That's our third option here.
It's time for us to jump in the car.
So you can also say it's time.
And then four, with the infinitive here or with the pronoun, whatever goes next, it's time for something to happen.
All right. So guys, at the top of the episode, we promised that we'd let you know where to go to find another episode about this, right, Aubrey?
Yes. And this was episode 1759, The Subjunctive Mood in English.
So if you're wanting more of a deep dive into how to use the subjunctive, check that one out.
Lindsay and I gave you all the info you need.
And just like you were saying, Lindsay, we also talked about why Americans don't always use the subjunctive.
Yeah. It's super interesting.
Where should we leave our listeners for this episode?
What is the final, you know, what do we want them to come away with today?
Right? First of all, connection, not perfection.
Don't be stressed about the subjunctive.
Exactly. But I'm excited for you to dive into that episode to see, once you understand it, it's really not that difficult to use.
I think what makes it trickiest is that you will often hear Americans not use it.
So this isn't one of the things that you can learn as easily just from listening to at least Americans speak.
Yeah. And I really want to see our listeners get eventually to the point, and this happens, you know, C1, C2 level, where they're making mistakes on purpose.
And they know that what they're saying is incorrect, like native speakers, but they're choosing to make that mistake because it just fits better with the moment.
And that is that definition of fluency and connection.
Right? That's where fluency and connection come together.
Yes, exactly. It reminds me of recent episodes we've done about pronunciation with like wanna, gonna, I'ma, all of the sounds we drop.
If you're wanting to sound more native and natural, sometimes you also want to drop those sounds.
Often it's about getting to the level where you're speaking more like the people around you.
100%. So guys, speaking of C1, we do have that new course coming out very soon.
Get on the list, go to all ears English .com slash C1 to be on the exclusive invite list to make sure you don't miss it when it goes live.
We've been working on it for a few months here and we're excited to unveil something brand new, Aubrey.
Yeah, absolutely. It is an exciting course.
We can't wait for you to get in there.
Yeah. Coming soon. All right, Aubrey, you have a nice day.
I'll talk to you soon.
See you next time. Bye.
Bye. Thanks for listening to all ears English.
Would you like to know your English level?
Take our two minute quiz, go to all ears English .com forward slash fluency score.
And if you believe in connection, not perfection, then hit subscribe now to make sure you don't miss anything.
See you next time.
