Moods

• Mood refers to how a verb is used to express a certain meaning by the speaker. Mood illustrates how the action is perceived by the speaker.

  • In the Philippines, the rainy season occurs from June to November. It will rain tomorrow.

  The first sentence is a statement of fact while the second expresses doubt or prediction. The mood of a sentence helps us understand the intention of a speaker.
• Indicative Mood

  ✓ A type of grammatical mood used to express facts, statements, opinions, or questions.

  ✓ Indicative mood is used to express verb tenses in declarative or interrogative sentences.

  • She graduated last year with a doctorate in neuroscience. Are you going to give your speech tomorrow?
• Imperative Mood

  ✓ A type of grammatical mood used to give commands or to ask someone to do something.

  Commands can either be affirmative or negative.

  Affirmative - base form of the verb Please open the gate.

  Remember to lock the door.

  Negative - do + not + base form of the verb Do not lock the door.

  Don’t forget your homework.
• Subjunctive Mood

  ✓ A type of grammatical mood used to express suggestions, recommendations, advice, demands, wishes, and doubts.

  Expressing Wishes

  Indicative: It’s Monday. I have to go to work.

  Subjunctive: I wish it weren’t Monday. I wish I didn’t have to go to work.

  Indicative: I was at the Taylor Swift concert in Japan last month.

  Subjunctive: If I were at the concert, I’d be crying my heart out.

  • For wishes, the verb be is always conjugated to were regardless of whether the subject is singular or plural.
• Expressing Commands, Suggestions, Requests, and Statements of Necessity

  • I recommend that she study harder next time. (suggestion)

  • I ask that the audience be completely silent during the demonstration. (request) It’s necessary that we be vigilant to avoid another disaster. (necessity)

  o The base form of the verb (infinitive form without to) is used.
• Conditional Mood

  ✓ Shows the conditions under which something could happen. Conditional mood uses modal verbs such

  as might, could, and would and is often set off by the words if or when.

  ✓ Conditional sentences are used to describe hypothetical scenarios that require a certain condition or

  conditions to be met.

  • I might be able to reach him if I call his mobile phone. We could listen to a different song if you’d like.
  • Eric will leave when Mom gets home.
  • If I hadn’t overslept, I wouldn’t have been late for work.
• Infinitive Mood

  ✓ Uses infinitives to express action. Infinitives don’t act like verbs, they are often considered to mimic

  other parts of speech such as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. In English grammar, do not split infinitives.

  ✓ To improve your skills in the English language, just keep reading. He loves to read speculative fiction

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