# This isn't the/a/=time to(for).....



## Phoebe1200

Hello, friends.

I've heard this phrase used mostly with "*the*" but also with "*a*" and I think, even with *zero article*.
So could you please tell me which one is correct?

_"This isn't *the*/*a*/*=*time to(for)....."_


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## johngiovanni

All of them are correct.


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## Phoebe1200

So I can use all of them absolutely interchangeably with no difference in meaning?


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## johngiovanni

You did not give a complete sentence.
I would say that "This isn't time for fun and games" means the same as "This isn't the time for fun and games" and "This isn't a time for fun and games".


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## e2efour

The following Google ngram suggests a preference. I give it only because it corresponds with what I would myself write.
Note that it refers to written English. It does not mean that usage in speech would be the same, so it has to be treated with caution.

Google Ngram Viewer


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## Phoebe1200

Does the indefinite article "a" have any significance in such a structure?


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

I probably wouldn't use zero article. The (minor) distinction for me: "the time" = this moment; "a time" = this period in time (e.g. in the current climate, world situation). 

Edit: With the second meaning, I might say "These aren't times for..."


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## Phoebe1200

Ok. Aside from zero article which is not that common, would you say that the definite and indefinite articles in this phrase "_This isn't *a/the* time to(for)...."_ can be used interchangeably?


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## Dale Texas

I would only say "This isn't *the* time for..." which to me is a set phrase and very emphatic, in tone not tolerating disagreement.

I would only use "a" if I were inserting an adjective in front of "time."

"This isn't *a good* time for..."  (A somewhat mild comment)

The superlative changes it back to "the."

"This isn't *the best *time for..."


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you very much everyone for taking the time to reply.


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## Phoebe1200

Resurrection, TV show
Context: Jacob has recently come back from the dead and his mother (Lucile) and grandmother (Margaret) are having a disagreement about whether he should start attending school or not.

*Margaret:* What I don't understand is why this boy isn't in school.
*Lucile: *We're not sending him out into the world.
*Margaret:* Well, all the other kids his age are learning, making friends, and, well, he's just sitting around with a bunch of old people.
*Lucile: *No.* It isn't time.
*
Could you tell me if it sounds idiomatic to you in this context without an article?
Could it also be  "It isn't the time"?


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## Esca

Phoebe1200 said:


> Resurrection, TV show
> Context: Jacob has recently come back from the dead and his mother (Lucile) and grandmother (Margaret) are having a disagreement about whether he should start attending school or not.
> 
> *Margaret:* What I don't understand is why this boy isn't in school.
> *Lucile: *We're not sending him out into the world.
> *Margaret:* Well, all the other kids his age are learning, making friends, and, well, he's just sitting around with a bunch of old people.
> *Lucile: *No.* It isn't time.
> *
> Could you tell me if it sounds idiomatic to you in this context without an article?
> Could it also be  "It isn't the time"?



No, actually. There's a difference between "*this *isn't the time" and "*it *isn't time."

"*This *isn't *the/a* time (for x/to x)" suggests that this is the wrong _situation_. Here we usually use an article.

"*It *isn't time (for x/to x)" suggests that you are waiting for a particular _time _(time of day, year, age, etc) and it has not arrived yet. For instance "It's time to go to bed." / "It isn't time to go to bed yet." We _don't_ usually use an article here.

The TV show is using the second structure.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you, Esca!
I didn't know that "This" and "It" were different. I just have one question. In the show, the contracted form of the word 'not' was used, but when I say it fully, for some reason, I want to use the article, like this:"It's not *the *time"
I mean, if it was said in the show with a full_ not _and without the article, would it still be correct and idiomatic, like the following?

*Lucile: *No. *It's not time.*


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## Esca

Phoebe1200 said:


> Thank you, Esca!
> I didn't know that "This" and "It" were different. I just have one question. In the show, the contracted form of the word 'not' was used, but when I say it fully, for some reason, I want to use the article, like this:"It's not *the *time"
> I mean, if it was said in the show with a full_ not _and without the article, would it still be correct and idiomatic, like the following?
> 
> *Lucile: *No. *It's not time.*



You could probably use "It's not *the time*," but it would be a little odd and would really mean something like "It's not *the *_right _*time*" or "This isn't *the *[_right_] *time *to do that." It still would mean it's not the right situation now. It might be the right situation later.
"It's (or _this is_) not *the* right *time *for me to think about getting married."
"This is not *the time *to listen to your music! We're in the library!"

There's a set phrase that's separate from all those ideas, which is "*It's time*." "*Is it time* [yet]?" "*It's *not *time *yet." Here there is the sense (as as I said before) that there is *one *specific time you are waiting for.
"You don't need to get out of bed right now,* it's *not* time *to go to school yet."


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## Esca

There's a related discussion happening right now, by the way: "Now it's time": Now is the time/now it's time


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you very much for the explanations and the link, Esca!
You've been very helpful.
I was thinking and have a question. So saying "It/This isn't* the *time" means that now is not the *right* time but at the same time, doesn't it also mean that we're waiting for a specific, particular time to arrive, you know, the way we say "It isn't time"?


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## Esca

Phoebe1200 said:


> Thank you very much for the explanations and the link, Esca!
> You've been very helpful.
> I was thinking and have a question. So saying "It/This isn't* the *time" means that now is not the *right* time but at the same time, doesn't it also mean that we're waiting for a specific, particular time to arrive, you know, the way we say "It isn't time"?


Not in the same way. For "Is this the time for x?" we're trying to recognize whether this is the appropriate or good or right time for that thing, and then answer is either yes or no. There are probably lots of situations where then answer would be "no," and lots of situations where the answer would be "yes."
Usually "Is it time?" means that there is only ONE time that you are waiting for. If you're too early the answer will be "no, it's too early/it's not time yet," and if you're too late the answer will be "no, it's too late."


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you!


Esca said:


> You could probably use "It's not *the time*," but it would be a little odd and would really mean something like "It's not *the *_right _*time*"


I don't understand why it would be odd to say "_It isn't *the *time/It's not* the* time_" in the TV show, I mean, can't the mother just mean that it's not the *right* time *now* for her son to start going to school.


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## JulianStuart

Phoebe1200 said:


> Thank you!
> 
> I don't understand why it would be odd to say "_It isn't *the *time/It's not* the* time_" in the TV show, I mean, can't the mother just mean that it's not the *right* time *now* for her son to start going to school.


And the (short) way we say that is "It's not time" - for an event we know will happen at some time, like lunch:
What time is lunch?  It's not time for lunch yet - you've only just had breakfast.


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## VicNicSor

"This" and "the" are demostrative, they point at a particular time. While "it" here is more like a "dummy" it, like in "it's getting dark", so no article.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you, Julian and Vic!

So, do I understand correctly that "It's (not) time" is* never *used with an article?


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## JulianStuart

Phoebe1200 said:


> Thank you, Julian and Vic!
> 
> So, do I understand correctly that "It's (not) time" is* never *used with an article?


In English we never say never about "rules"
It is not time for lunch.  The clock has not reached the right time - lunch is at 12:30 and it's only 11:00.

It's not the time for lunch. It's an _inappropriate_ time for lunch.  Perhaps we are freefalling from 15,000 feet and we have to make sure we open our parachutes at the right time.  One minute later, the instructor said "It's now time to open your parachutes!"


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## Phoebe1200

JulianStuart said:


> In English we never say never about "rules"


Alright then, would you say that an article is used *very rarely* with "It's (not) time"?


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## Phoebe1200

JulianStuart said:


> It is not time for lunch. The clock has not reached the right time - lunch is at 12:30 and it's only 11:00.
> 
> It's not the time for lunch. It's an _inappropriate_ time for lunch. Perhaps we are freefalling from 15,000 feet and we have to make sure we open our parachutes at the right time. One minute later, the instructor said "It's now time to open your parachutes!"


Thank you for the example.


JulianStuart said:


> In English we never say never about "rules"





Phoebe1200 said:


> would you say that an article is used *very rarely* with "It's (not) time"?


But still, should I take from all this that an article is rarely used with "It's (not) time"?


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## Phoebe1200

I still don't understand the difference between "a" and "the" in the expression "*This* is not a/the time to/for".

_Henry Danger, TV series._
Henry intends to take two girls to the school dance. His friend, Charlotte, warns him against it, telling him that it's a bad idea. But he still does it. So at the dance, he comes up to Charlotte telling her that he has a big problem. Here's the dialogue:

*Charlotte*: Yeah, I told you. If you tried to bring two different girls to the dance, something was going to go wrong.
*Henry*: Well, it did.
*Charlotte*: Durrrr!
*Henry*: This is not *a* time to 'durr' at me.

Could you tell me why "a" was used here and could it be "the"?


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## Glasguensis

Using "a" suggests that there may be numerous times when "durr"ing would be appropriate and this is not one of those times. Using "the" would be possible, but it suggests that this is a particularly unique moment, which doesn't suit the context. Only "a" is idiomatic with this context.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you for your answer.

And if, for example, she said this "Well, you were wrong" instead of "dirr" and then Henry would say this "This is not *a/the* time to tell me I was wrong."

Which article would it be here?


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## Glasguensis

That would be exactly the same case as "durr". It is the context which potentially makes a difference to the article choice, not Henry's words.


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## Phoebe1200

Glasguensis said:


> Using "a" suggests that there may be numerous times when "durr"ing would be appropriate and this is not one of those times. Using "the" would be possible, but it suggests that this is a particularly unique moment, which doesn't suit the context. Only "a" is idiomatic with this context.


I'm sorry but I still don't understand the difference. Could you please explain it a little more?


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## Glasguensis

What part do you not understand ?


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## Phoebe1200

Just the difference between "the" and "a". 
And especially this part 


Glasguensis said:


> Using "the" would be possible, but it suggests that this is a particularly unique moment, which doesn't suit the context.


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## Glasguensis

We would use "the" if the "now" in question was particularly important or special. Examples of such occasions:
The speaker is performing brain surgery
The speaker is in the middle of their wedding ceremony
War has just been declared

For other more mundane moments we would use "a". The OP is not a special moment so "the" is not appropriate.


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## Phoebe1200

Thank you. Your examples made it a little clearer.


Glasguensis said:


> The speaker is performing brain surgery


Does this mean, for example, that if the surgeon starts laughing during the surgery and the nurse says "This is not *a *time for laughing" using "a" then that would mean that sometimes surgeons or someone else laughs during a surgery, that it's a normal thing?


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## Glasguensis

No. The usual form is "a". We can use "the" if we wish to emphasise the importance or uniqueness of the moment. The fact that someone doesn't use the should not lead you to any conclusion about how they view the importance or uniqueness of the moment.


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## Phoebe1200

Glasguensis said:


> The usual form is "a".


Really? I actually thought that the usual form was "This isn't *the* time".
But the Google Ngram Viewer shows more results with "the".


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## Glasguensis

Because we often use the phrase at unique or important moments.


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## Phoebe1200

I appreciate your replies, Glasguensis.


Glasguensis said:


> We would use "the" if the "now" in question was particularly important or special.





Glasguensis said:


> Using "the" would be possible, but it suggests that this is a particularly unique moment


Well, can't Henry use "the" in his situation because maybe he regards the moment as special and important? Isn't it the speaker's choice?


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## Glasguensis

What words to use are always the speaker's choice. I personally don't view the moment as particularly important or unique, and presumably neither did the scriptwriters. It would of course be entirely possible to use "the", or indeed a different phrase altogether.


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## Phoebe1200

I really cannot thank you enough, Glasguensis, for all your answers that helped me understand the difference.


Glasguensis said:


> or indeed a different phrase altogether.


I'm tempted to ask what phrase you have in mind. I'm just asking for an example so I could get the idea.


JulianStuart said:


> It's not the time for lunch. It's an _inappropriate_ time for lunch. Perhaps we are freefalling from 15,000 feet and we have to make sure we open our parachutes at the right time.


In this example, is it idiomatic to use "It's not the time"?
And can it be replaced with "This is not the time"?


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## JulianStuart

Phoebe1200 said:


> In this example, is it idiomatic to use "It's not the time"?
> And can it be replaced with "This is not the time"?


Are you asking me if what I wrote is idiomatic???
_This_ would also work in place of _it_, and in some situations might be preferred by some. 

You still seem to be asking many of your questions as though there is only one "correct" answer  - that is an attitude that will slow your learning.  Understanding that in many cases, there is more than one choice will be a step forward for you.


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## Phoebe1200

JulianStuart said:


> Are you asking me if what I wrote is idiomatic???


Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it that way at all. I thought that you came up with that specific example to show me that the phrase "It's not time" can be used with the article. And that is why I asked if it was idiomatic because I thought that maybe you just used it in the example to show me the usage but that normally it would be used with "*This *is not the time" even in that situation. Please forgive me.


JulianStuart said:


> _This_ would also work in place of _it_, and in some situations might be preferred by some.


When you say this, do you mean that when "This" replaces "It" then it would be used with the article like this "*This *is not *the* time" or like this "*This *is not time"?


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## Glasguensis

He means that in many cases "It is not a/the/zero article time" can be replaced by "This is not a/the/zero article time". The choice between it and this is independent of article choice.


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## Phoebe1200

Glasguensis said:


> He means that in many cases "It is not a/the/zero article time" can be replaced by "This is not a/the/zero article time". The choice between it and this is independent of article choice.


Many thanks to you.

My sincere gratitude to everyone. You've all been very helpful.


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