Good morning, folks!
Today we’re going to get into some grammar. I know, I know. It’s not as fun as idioms and games and new words, but I’ve received some questions on conditional and subjunctive moods, so let’s go through these and the other three moods. I’ll cover them over several days to (hopefully) avoid any meltdowns.
First, a preview. What is a grammatical mood? Mood refers to the different verb forms and how they show the purpose of a sentence. The five main forms we’re talking about in English are:
| Mood | What it expresses | Examples |
| Indicative | A fact, an opinion | Josie enjoys cooking. |
| Interrogative | A question | Is your dog mixed with Chihuahua? |
| Imperative | A command; a request | Wash the dishes before you even think about turning on the TV. |
| Conditional | A condition | If I drank coffee, I would be awake all night. |
| Subjunctive | A wish, a doubt, a demand, or a hypothetical | He demanded that his son prepare his own dinner. |
There are some resources that only refer to three moods (indicative, imperative, and subjunctive) and refer to the other two moods as tenses. We’re going to use all five of these and cover them separately. Let’s start with the indicative mood today!
From GrammarBook.com: The indicative is by far the most common of the moods. It is used whenever you are giving a fact or making an ordinary statement.
The indicative mood generally uses the simple past, simple present, and simple future tense of the verb. Here are a few sentences written in the indicative mood. (The past and future tenses in parentheses.)
Fact:
Joe loves swimming. (loved, will love)
Alabama is in the southern part of the United States. (was, will be)
Sandra drinks Mai-Tais and floats in the pool. (drank/will drink, floated/will float)
Opinion:
She has great taste in business casual clothes. (had, will have)
Dimitri believes his scooter is the fastest. (believed, will believe)
Amy thinks she makes the best apple pie. (thought she made, thinks she will make)
Next time, we’ll have a look at the interrogative mood.
And to make you feel better:
Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications
Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com
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