Being polite or less direct
We sometimes use a past verb form to talk about present time, in order to be more polite or less direct:
Ithoughtyou might like to know that Linda has been promoted.
Wewere hopingyou’d stay for dinner.
Wouldyougivethese to Richard, please?(more polite/less direct thanWill you give these to Richard, please?)
Conditional and hypothetical structures withif, what if, wishandsupposingoften use past forms with a present meaning:
If Jameswashere now, he’d know what to do.
What if weleftnow instead of later, would we avoid the rush-hour traffic?
I wish Ihadmore time. I could stay and help you.
Supposing youweremarried. Where would you be living now, here or somewhere else?
See also:
Conditionals
Conjunctions
Politeness: making what we say less direct
Things in the past that are still true
Sometimes we use past verb forms to refer to things which were true or which happened in the past, even when they are still true now:
A:That woman at the party last nightwasRussian.
B:I thought so.
He went for an interview for the airforce the other day but he didn’t get in because his eyesightwasn’tgood enough.
It’s time …
We use the expressionit’s time …to refer to the present moment with a past verb form:
It’s eleven-thirty.It’s timeIwentto bed.
Not:It’s time I go to bed.
See also:
It’s time