UNREAL PAST FORMS- level 19

past = present or future: unreal uses of past forms


Why do we use the past simple here? It's late, it's time we went.

We sometimes use past tenses to describe things in the present or future that are imagined or unreal.

It's time we went.
We are using It's time... here to say that something is not happening, but it should be happening.

Compare also the following:

It's time we left. Our son will be home soon and he doesn't have a house key.
It's about time you started looking for a job. You can't depend on us all the time. It's high time you started to fend for yourself.
Note that it's not possible to use this structure in negative sentences. We cannot say: It's high time you didn't depend on your parents any more. But we can use the construction it's time to or it's time for + object + to as alternatives to the unreal use of past forms to express this idea:

It's time for you to think seriously about what you want to do in your life.
It's time you thought seriously about what you want to achieve in your life.
It's time to reflect on how you want your life to proceed

wish / if only
Similarly we can use wish and if only + past simple to express a wish for something to be different than it actually is:

If only I could lose some weight. Then I'd be able to wear this dress.
If only I had more free time. I'm sure I'd be less stressed and more cheerful.
I wish I were younger. I'd love to be able to play tennis like Roger Federer.
I wish you could drive. Then I wouldn't need to be your personal chauffeur.
Note that we also use wish and if only with the past perfect to express a regret about the past, a wish that something might have been different:

I wish I'd had more children. Then I wouldn't be so lonely now.
I wish you'd told me you felt lonely. You could've spent the summer with me.
Note that the shortened forms of I'd had and you'd told in the above examples are abbreviations of the past perfect:

I wish I had had more children. Then I wouldn't be so lonely now.
I wish you had told me you felt lonely. You could've spent the summer with me.

The second conditional is a structure used for talking about unreal situations in the present or in the future.

if clause = if + subject + simple past verb*
main clause = subject + would + verb

*Note that this "simple past" form is slightly different from usual in the case of the verb BE. Whatever the subject, the verb form is "were", not "was": If I were rich, I'd buy a big house. However, "was" is commonly used in informal english

EX:
If I were you, I would drive more carefully in the rain. (I am not you -- this is unreal.)
Paula would be sad if Jan left. (Jan will not leave -- that's not going to happen)
If dogs had wings, they would be able to fly. (Dogs don't have wings -- that's impossible)