Unreal past (it's time, would rather, as if)

It's time we left. I'd rather you didn't smoke in here. She acts as if she owned the place. None of these sentences are actually about the past — they're all about right now, or the near future — yet each one uses a past-tense verb. This is the same trick English uses in the second conditional and with wish / if only: a past form signals that a situation is unreal — not what's actually happening — even when the meaning is completely present.

Quick forms: it's (about/high) time + past simple. would rather + subject + past simple (different person) or past perfect (past regret) — but would rather + base verb, no subject, when it's your own preference. as if / as though + past simple (unreal now) or past perfect (unreal in the past).

It's (about/high) time + past simple

It's time, it's about time, and the more emphatic it's high time all say that something should be happening already — and it isn't yet. The clause that follows uses the past simple, even though the meaning is entirely present or immediate future:

• It's time we left — the film starts in ten minutes.
• It's about time you got a new phone; that one is falling apart.
• It's high time the government did something about this.

For this "overdue" meaning, the standard form is the past simple: ✅ It's time we left. You may occasionally hear a present-tense version like it's time we take action, especially in American English, but the past form is the one to learn and use here — it's what marks the idea as overdue rather than just stating a fact.

It's time can also be followed by a plain infinitive with no unreal meaning at all — It's time to go or It's time for us to go — but that's a different, simpler structure (no subject, no past form) and doesn't carry the same nuance of "this should already be happening."

Would rather: a preference, but whose?

Would rather (also, less commonly, would sooner) expresses a preference. The form it takes depends on whether the preferred action has no new subject or its own subject.

No new subject — just your own preference — would rather + bare infinitive (no to):

• ✅ I'd rather stay home tonight. (never ❌ I'd rather to stay)
• Would you rather walk or take the bus?

A clause with its own subject, present or future — this is where the unreal past appears. In British English and most exam contexts, use would rather + subject + past simple; American English also commonly uses a plain (subjunctive-style) base form here:

• I'd rather you stayed home tonight. (BrE/exam-standard — I want you to stay)
• I'd rather you didn't smoke in here.
• I'd rather you stay home tonight. (also heard, especially in AmE)

A clause about the past that you wish had gone differently — would rather + subject + past perfect, the same past-for-past pattern the third conditional uses:

• I'd rather you had told me sooner. (you didn't tell me — that's the regret)
• She'd rather he hadn't said anything at the meeting.

The trap is mixing the two patterns: ❌ I'd rather to stay home (adding to when there's no new subject) → ✅ I'd rather stay home; and, for the standard BrE/exam form, ❌ I'd rather you stay home tonight, but you never listen used as if it were a past regret → ✅ I'd rather you had stayed home last night when the moment has already passed.

As if / as though: unreal comparisons

As if and as though mean the same thing in these comparison clauses (as though is a little more formal). They compare a situation to one that's presented as unreal — how something seems, looks, or feels — with a past form making the comparison clearly hypothetical or contrary to fact.

Unreal now → as if / as though + past simple (or past continuous for something in progress):

• She acts as if she owned the place. (she doesn't own it — she just moved in)
• He behaves as if he were running the company. (he isn't — he just gives orders like he is)

With singular subjects, the same formal were from wish often appears here too: ✅ as if he were the boss, alongside the more informal as if he was the boss.

A present-tense form after as if is also very common and perfectly natural — it just doesn't commit to the comparison being false: He talks as if he knows everything simply describes his manner (he may or may not actually know a lot). Swapping in the past form, He talks as if he knew everything, more clearly signals that the speaker doubts it or thinks it isn't true. Neither version is a mistake — the past form is the one that carries the "unreal" meaning this page focuses on.

Unreal in the past → as if / as though + past perfect, showing that the apparent situation wasn't true:

• He spoke as if he had written the report himself — but he hadn't.
• She acted as though she had never heard the news, even though everyone had already told her twice.

Watch out for a similar-looking sentence like He looked as if he had seen a ghost — here the past perfect mostly just places the "seeing" before the "looking" (he looked shocked, as someone who has just seen a ghost would); it isn't necessarily claiming he didn't see anything. Context tells you whether as if + past perfect is marking a real sequence of events or an unreal one.

A useful contrast: when the comparison is genuinely likely or expected, English just uses an ordinary present or future tense — ✅ It looks as if it's going to rain states a real, likely possibility, quite different from the unreal comparisons above.

Common mistakes

• ❌ It's time we leave. → ✅ It's time we left. (for the standard "overdue" meaning, the past simple is the form to use, even though the meaning is present)
• ❌ I would rather to stay home. → ✅ I would rather stay home. (no new subject means a bare infinitive, no to and no past form)
• ❌ I'd rather you had come tomorrow. → ✅ I'd rather you came tomorrow. (a future preference needs the past simple, not the past perfect — had come is only for a past regret)
• ❌ She acted as though she has never heard the news. → ✅ She acted as though she had never heard the news. (a comparison about an earlier moment needs the past perfect, not the present perfect)
• ✅ He talks as if he knows everything is a natural, everyday sentence — but if you specifically want to signal doubt or unreality, the past form ✅ He talks as if he knew everything is what does that job.

Quick check

Which form fits best?

1. It's time we ____ (leave / left / have left) — the taxi is waiting.
2. I'd rather you ____ (don't smoke / didn't smoke / not smoke) in the house.
3. I'd rather ____ (stay / staying / to stay) home tonight, if that's okay.
4. She acts as if she ____ (owns / owned / had owned) the place, though she only moved in last month.
5. He spoke as if he ____ (writes / had written / write) the report himself — but everyone knew he hadn't.

Key takeaways

• It's (about/high) time + past simple says something should already be happening: It's time we left.
• Would rather + bare infinitive (no to) when there's no new subject: I'd rather stay home.
• Would rather + subject + past simple for someone else's present/future action: I'd rather you stayed home. Use the past perfect instead for a past regret: I'd rather you had told me sooner.
• As if / as though + past simple makes a comparison clearly unreal now: She acts as if she owned the place. Use the past perfect for an unreal earlier situation: He spoke as if he had written the report himself.
• All three patterns reuse the same core idea as the second conditional and wish: a past-tense form doesn't always mean past time — it can mean the situation isn't real.