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Speaker 1: So the other day I was on the phone with

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my friend Ed. We had plans to meet at one

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o'clock and it was already one p fifteen. I said

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it's time to go, and he goes, h, it's about time.

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Have you ever heard that phrase, it's about time? What

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does that even mean? Well, today we're going to talk

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about how to use a bunch of conversational phrases with

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its time in English. I think it's time to start.

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Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from

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New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.

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Speaker 1: All right, thank you Jan and thanks everyone. It's Michael

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here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.

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And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode nine forty six

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Phrases with its time in English. Thanks for tuning in.

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Today we're gonna look at the phrase it's time, which

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on the surface seems pretty simple, right, but as you'll see,

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native speakers use this in a bunch of different ways.

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Let's start with the most basic form, it's time to go,

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it's time to eat, it's time to start the meeting.

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You can use it's time to followed by a base

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verb anytime that it's the right moment to do something.

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For example, last weekend, I was working all morning and

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around twelve thirty my stomach started growling and I said,

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all right, it's time to eat, and for some reason,

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my dog Max thought it's time for him to eat too.

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We also use it's time for followed by a noun

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when we talk about a specific thing or event. So

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you might say it's time for lunch, or it's time

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for a break, or if you have a doctor's appointment,

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you might hear the nurse say it's time for your checkup.

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It's time for something. It's a simple way to signal

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that something is about to begin. Now here's where it

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gets interesting. We can say things like it's time we left,

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or it's time you got a new phone, or it's

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time I took a vacation. Did you notice something? Yeah,

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the verb is in the past tense. It's time we

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left got took. But this doesn't mean it already happened.

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Actually it hasn't happened yet, but it should. This is

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a grammar thing called the subjunctive. It may sound a

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bit formal, but we use it in casual conversation all

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the time. And again, the pattern is it's time followed

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by a subject and then a past verb, like imagine

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you've been working way too much lately. Your friend might

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say it's time you took a break. You didn't take

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the break yet, but your friend thinks it's the right moment.

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So we use the past tense to express something that

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should happen now. Now let's talk about the phrase I

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mentioned earlier, it's about time. This one adds emotion, sometimes relief,

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sometimes frustration, sometimes both. Let's say you're waiting in line

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at the bank, and finally, after twenty minutes, they open

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up another window. You can say it's about time. When

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you say it's about time, it's like you're saying, why

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did this take so long? Like when you're waiting for

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a bus in New York City, waiting and waiting and waiting,

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and then finally the bus comes, it's about time. And

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here too, we use it's about time followed by a

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past sentence, like it's about time Jack came to work.

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That guy is always late. Or when the city finally

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gets around to fixing the potholes in the street, you

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can say it's about time they fix the road. You're

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saying it took them too long to do it, and

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finally they did it. It's about time. That happened means finally,

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why did it take so long? It's emotional. Maybe you

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were annoyed or waiting, or just surprised that they actually

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did it and finally. Sometimes we just say it's time.

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That's it, just those two words, and it sounds kind

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of dramatic, right. We use its time when we are

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in charge of starting something big or important, like if

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it's your turn to go on the stage for a speech,

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someone may tell you, okay, Michael, it's time. You hear

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people say this a lot in dramatic scenes in movies,

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like when James Bond is about to start his secret mission,

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or in Star Wars when the rebel Alliance is about

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to strike the empire. Luke, it's time. Very dramatic and

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mara emotional than saying, let's begin our mission and now

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it's time to recap. We use it's time to to

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talk about something that needs to happen now, like it's

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time to finish this lesson. We use it's time for

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followed by a noun like it's time for lunch. We

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use it's time followed by a past sentence for soft

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advice or things that are overdue, like it's time we

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started packing for our trip. We use it's about time

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when something took too long, like it's about time the

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meeting started, and finally just it's time, which is a

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dramatic way to say, let's do it. And keep in mind,

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the best way to remember English like this and any

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other word or phrase in English, is to take that

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word or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true

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for you or true in your world, and then memorize

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your sentences. That's how you build fluency. Thanks for listening,

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and remember learning another language is not easy, but it's

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not impossible, and I'm here to help you on your journey.

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Speaker 2: This podcast is brought to you by Happy English. Please

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visit Myhappy english dot com show your support for Happy

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English by leading us a review. Get English, Get Happy,

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