Meaning
Emphatically suggests that something should happen now because it is overdue.
Primary Function
Urging or expressing impatience
Communicative Purpose
To strongly suggest immediate action
Pattern
It’s high time
Core Structure
It’s high time
Função primária
Urging or expressing impatience
Propósito comunicativo
To strongly suggest immediate action
Situações de gatilho
A situation where something is long overdue or a decision has been postponed for too long
Contextos
Formal and informal conversations, editorials, and official documents where a sense of urgency is necessary
Padrão
It’s high time
Estrutura central
It’s high time
Slots de substituição
The subject can be a noun phrase or pronoun, and the verb should be in the past simple form, indicating the action that should have been taken already
Colocados típicos
- we
- they
- it
Substituições comuns
- It’s about time
- It’s time for
Erros comuns
Using the present tense instead of the past tense after 'high time'
Similar / contraste
It’s about time, It’s time we
Interferências
Be careful with the verb tense, as 'high time' requires the past simple
Família do chunk
- It's about time we had a change
- It's high time someone spoke up
Nuance
Conveys a sense of urgency, impatience, and possibly criticism for not acting sooner
Efeito pragmático
Encourages the listener to take immediate action
Dica de memória
Urgent action needed
Nota
The past tense verb form is crucial for the idiomatic use of this expression.
Upgrade path
It is incumbent upon us to…, The moment has arrived to…
Log in to save chunks.