Phrase · 🙄 Colloquial reactions
¡Ya era hora de que llegaras!
About time you got here!
C2relief and reproachinformalAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
¡Ya1adverbabout (lit. already)era1verbit wasser · imperfect · 3rd sing.hora1nountimefem. · sing.de2prepositionforque2conjunction(that)llegaras2verbyou arrivedllegar · subjunctive · imperfect · 2nd sing.!
- Ya → hora: ya era hora: about time
- de → llegaras: de que + subjunctive
- era → llegaras: past era → imperfect subjunctive
Word for word: “It was already time that you arrived!”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1¡Ya era hora! = about time!: relief mixed with reproach. The imperfect era says the moment was overdue. Modal and stylistic uses of tenses →
- 2hora de que + subjunctive; after past era, the imperfect subjunctive: llegaras (also llegases). Sequence of tenses in the subjunctive →
Variations
- ¡Ya era hora!
- ¡Por fin llegas!
- ¡Hasta que llegaste!