would be unnatural

[Kontol]

Can you explain how "would" works in this sentence?

It's high time you stopped smoking. ("Stop" would be unnatural).

 

[emsr2d2]

It's high time you stopped smoking. ("Stop" would be unnatural).

Who wrote that sentence and where did you find it?

 

[Kontol]

It's in my English grammar book, Practical English Usage by Michael Swan

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for providing some of the source information. Note that I have added the name of the author for you. A source should include both the title and author.

The part in brackets in post #1 means "If you wrote "stop" in that sentence instead of "stopped", it would be wrong". Does it help to see it written out like that? It has simply been shortened to the four words given.