It's high time Уважаемые сообщники. Есть такие вот обороты: "it's time/it's about time/it's high time". По стандартному правилу после них будет следовать Past Simple, например: "It's high time we went". Также можно встретить в письменной и разговорной речи случаи употребления Past Continuous, Present Simple или там инфинитива. Но дело в том, что в некоторых источниках я встречал упоминание о том, что возможен и Past Perfect, который якобы будет по сравнению с Past Simple акцентировать то, что некое несовершенное действие уже давным давно пора было бы выполнить. Только сколько я не искал, мне не удалось найти ни одного реального примера употребления Past Perfect в такого рода конструкциях. Так вот, можно ли встретить (пусть и очень-очень редко) фразу вроде "It's high time I had called him" и что в таком случае она будет означать? Подозреваю, что Past Perfect в такой конструкции - удел книжек по грамматике и в реальном английском вообще нигде и никогда не применяется.
- Действительно, не применяется.
- если можно, я со своим вопросом влезу внутрь темы: допускается ли конструкция it's high time to... (it's high time to go)?
- This is where grammar stops and usage begins to rule.
In British english at the moment :
"It's time to go" = "It's time we went" This is a non urgent comment
"It's high time we went" This is more urgent BUT you can't say "It's high time to go" (This is why I say grammar stops - there is no way of making a rule here - we say the one, but not the other)
"It's about time ..." This does not express any sort of comment about the immediate present and is quite different from the two examples above. It expresses dissatisfaction with recent events :
"It's about time we had a change of government" = We are tired of what the government is doing and we want a change.
"It's about time Liverpool won the Premiership" = We are getting tired of Manchester United.
"It's about time you grew up" = Frustrated parent to bolshie teenager
Your example "It's high time I had called him" - Nothing like this exists as far as I can see.
- Я правильно понимаю, что конструкция аналогична I wish something + past (simple or perfect)?
Если так, было бы правильно согласовать времена и сказать It was (about) time ... + past perfect?
- правило согласования времен не распространяется на it's (high) time, это могу точно утверждать
- "I wish the escalator worked" Simple past, but this is an expression of current discontent. "I wish the escalator worked because walking up the stairs makes my legs ache". Grammatically it seems barmy.
"I wish the escalator was working" has exactly the same meaning as the above and is equally barmy.
We should be able to say "I wish the escalator is working" but we don't. However this is not grammar, it is usage
"I wish the escalator had worked" Past perfect. The speaker is expressing regret at what happened some time ago. The escalator did not work last Tuesday and so his legs ached on Tuesday evening.
"I wish the escalator have worked" Present perfect. We don't say this.
Now we are thinking about "It was time ..."
"It was time he had eaten" "It was time he had dug the garden" past perfect - I don't think you can have sentences like this
"It was about time he had eaten" This is better, but you can't have it by itself.
"He decided it was about time he had eaten" You can have this. It means that in the past he realised he was hungry.
I'm afraid this is very unsatisfactory to a grammarian. I really think there is a limit to how far you can codify the strange ways we have of speaking. English can sometimes be very difficult because we don't decline our nouns and our verbs are only really semi-conjugated.
- Thanks a lot! Everything is clear now.
Источник: http://community.livejournal.com/ru_learnenglish/1268785.html |