It's about time you sell that old car and buy yourself a new one

[hegamonia]

1. It''s about time you sell that old car and buy yourself a new one.

Is this a correct phrase? Or must it be in imperfekt, as in:

2. It's about time you sold that old car and bought yourself a new one.

Can someone please give examples in texts where the first example,
number 1, is used. Of course, it does not have to be about cars.

Thank you all! / Thomas

[Molly]

Here, it's used:

Well, enough talk from me ... it's About Time you take a look at what we have to offer!

http://www.abouttimeacres.com/

Its about time you’re back in my life
Cause I miss you honey
Its about time you’re back in my sight
Cause I need you honey

http://www.musicloversgroup.com/one-night-only-its-about-time-video-and-lyrics/

Isn’t it ‘about time’ you have the knowledge needed to plan and engage in time management solutions with success?

http://www.careerbuilderinstitute.com/eLearning_Courses/Time-Management-Training.aspx

[lost_soul]

[Molly]

[lost_soul]

Hi, Molly

Well, this year my teacher (a native speaker of American English, by the way) told me that only the past tense can be used in sentences such as the one in question

I'd be grateful if native speakers shared their ideas on this question, please

I always thought that only the past tense can be used, but Molly and Hegamonia have sown the seeds of doubt into my heart.

[Torsten]

May it's hight time answers some of your questions. In addition, high time + subjunctive might be interesting as well.
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Barb_D]

"It's time for you [infinitive]" -It's time for you to go to bed, for him to step up to the plate, for her to make a decision.

But for no reason that I can understand, we do backshift for "It's time... you went to bed, he stepped up to the plate, she made a decision.

I think in speaking, we sometimes forget where we are in a sentence. You make a mental shift in how you are thinking about the sentence from one to the other and change the tense to match the new version. So I'm sure you hear it with the present all the time. I'm surprised you were able to find examples in careful writing though.

[lost_soul]

Hi, Torsten and Barb D

Thank you, now my suspicions are allayed and I'm sure that only It's about time you sold that old car and buy yourself a new one is correct

[Yankee]

Hi Alex

This is how I would interpret the following sentences (without any further context):

"It's about time you are back in my life" --> You are back in my life now (it's factual), but your return was long overdue.

"It's about time you were back in my life" --> Possibly: You are not back in my life yet, and the time that you have been out of my life has already been too long. (Or it could also be similar in meaning to the first sentence.)
.
.
If I heard somebody say "It's about time you sell that old car", I would understand 'sell' as subjunctive -- i.e. a usage similar to "It's important that he sell that car as soon as possible."
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[MrPedantic]

I would agree that the second verb is subjunctive, and thus only "past" in form:

1. It is (about) time that you did X.
2. ?It is (about) time that you do X.

(I wouldn't expect to hear #2 in BrE.)

MrP

[lost_soul]

[Yankee]

Hi all

- "It's about time you sold that old car."

The sentence above could be a reference to either the past or the future.
.
.
To me, if you change that sentence to

- "It's about time you sell that old car."

then it is clear that the car has not been sold yet, but the the speaker thinks it is advisable to do so soon.

That's my take.
.
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[Yankee]

[Molly]

Basically, the "rule" they gave was that "It's time (someone) did" should be treated as an idiom.

If so, couldn't "It's time to sell that car" also be classes as an idiom?

The only thing I can see as the reason for the past tense /remote form is that "It's about time..." introduces a suggestion. It's a modal expression, and
similar to "It's time we left". The speaker can express social-distance, tentativeness, politeness, etc. with the past tense/remote form. Maybe that's what's going on with "It's about time you + past tense/remote form".

[MrPedantic]