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I've been trying to use the idiom "it's about time" followed by a situation that might occur in the future.

For example, "It's about time my parents find out about my felonies and throw me out of the house"

Online, it says that It's about time is used to indicate an event that should've happened sooner. The sentence I've written is a bit different when seen from the meaning the definition conveys.

In simpler terms, is my sentence correct and does the reader get the right message or is there a better way one could've written it?

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  • Did you consult any textbooks or dictionaries?
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 18:15
  • you wrote: '"It's about time" is used to indicate an event that should've happened sooner'. Not quite. It is used to indicate an an even that has not happened yet, but which should have happened by now.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 18:58
  • @Michael Harvey A web search lead to this website, (merriam-webster.com/dictionary/it%27s_about_time) and that's where I got the definition from.
    – Bambara
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 19:43
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    How did you get from what Merriam-Webster wrote to "a situation that might occur in the future"?
    – CJ Dennis
    Commented Apr 4, 2020 at 1:37

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We use "it is (or it's) about time" or "it's time" to discuss something which we feel is overdue, and which, we feel, ought to happen now or in the very near future. It is followed by verbs in the past tense. Your sentence should be 'It's about time my parents found out about my felonies and threw me out of the house'.

Past=present or future:unreal uses of past forms

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It's about time my parents find out about my felonies and throw me out of the house

The way to "convert" this to future tense would be:

It'll be about time next month when my parents find out about my felonies and throw me out of the house.

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    I am not happy about this. "About time" is used to discuss a situation which ought to have happened by now, but hasn't. I would be happier about "It won't be before time..."
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 19:10
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    I agree with Michael Harvey. I don't think It'll be about time works. It's a perfectly grammatical phrase, but it doesn't have the idiomatic meaning of it's about time.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented Apr 3, 2020 at 19:46

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