Download Moods

Modality and moods
0 Modality is a semantic category which expresses the attitude of the speaker towards what is
said in the sentence. So modality can be expressed through a variety of grammatical and
lexical means in conjunction with contextual factors:
(a) morphological mood of the verb;
(b) lexical means such as sentence adverbials (hopefully, maybe), modal auxiliaries (can,
must, may);
(c) syntactic means such as paraphrases with would as well as constructions with
have+[to]-inf., e.g. I have to work.
(d) sentence types (statement, question, command)
1 Mood is the grammatical category which correlates with the degree or kind of reality
assigned by the speaker to what s/he is saying.
1.1 the indicative/declarative mood (utterance presented as a fact),
1.2 the imperative mood (utterance presented as a command),
1.3 the subjunctive mood
1.3.1 the optative subjunctive (utterance presented as a wish),
1.3.2 the potential subjunctive (utterance presented as doubtful or unreal),
1.4 the interrogative mood (utterance presented as a question).
Moods are practically (!) identified with types of sentences, namely declarative sentences,
imperatives, conditional sentences, questions. As regards the imperative and subjunctive
moods, the use of old traditional forms is restricted and in most cases superseded by the
periphrastic use of modal auxiliaries.
2 The indicative/declarative mood
This form represents something as a fact or as in close relation with reality. The declarative is
the least marked of all the mood categories, and in most languages it is expressed by
constructions and verb forms which carry no overt marking of mood, all other distinctions of
mood being overtly marked in some way.
●It is blue.
●Kate has read Tom Jones by Henry Fielding.
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3 The imperative mood
This mood expresses commands, warning, prohibition. Many languages have no specific
grammatical form for this purpose, often employing (like English) the simplest possible form
of the verb, many others, such as Spanish, Hungarian and Slavic languages, have a specialised
imperative inflection of the verb.
3.1 When no subject is indicated, it refers to 2nd person singular or plural.
●Sit down.
●Don’t come in.
●Be quiet. (Normally the exclamation mark is not used!)
●Do be a bit more careful. (Emphatic imperative.)
The use of please or the question tags will you, would you, can you, could you with the
imperative softens a command to a request.
●Shut the door, please.
●Help me with this, will you?
The addition of won’t you changes the imperative into an invitation.
●Come in, won’t you?
●Have a cup of tea, won’t you?
3.2 Subject with imperative
We can use a noun or pronoun to make it clear who we are talking to.
●Mary come here — everybody else stay where you are.
●Somebody answer the phone.
●Nobody move.
3.3 The use of let
If first or third person is meant to be the doer of an action, in English the periphrastic
let structure is used.
●Let’s go./Let’s not sit down here.
●Let him play handball./Let him not play handball./Don’t let him play
handball.
4 The subjunctive mood
The function of the subjunctive is to state something not as a fact, an actual reality, but as a
conception of the mind of the speaker. It expresses such mood categories as remoteness,
unreality, probability or possibility. The subjunctive is obligatory, for example in Spanish,
after most matrix verbs of wanting, advising, permitting, prohibiting, ordering, hoping and the
like. English has lost the morphological subjunctive which it once had but the term is still
sometimes applied to certain distinctive forms occurring in some varieties of British English.
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4.1 Forms
4.1.1 Synthetical forms (traditional forms)
— the stem form (V1) for all persons: go, do, be, sing etc.
— the V-ed/V2 form (which coincide with the simple past tense form):
went, did, were (!), sang etc.
— the had V-en/V3 form (which coincide with the past perfect tense
form): had gone, had done, had been, had sung etc.
— negatives with the stem forms (without the periphrastic auxiliary
do):
●The boss suggested that Mr White not reply the letter sent by
Mr Black.
●We considered it desirable that he not be left alone in no
circumstances.
4.1.2 Analytical forms (use/functions of modal auxiliaries!)
4.2 Meaning
4.2.1 Optative subjunctive
It represents something as desired, demanded or required by a person or
circumstances.
●God save the Queen!
●The Lord have mercy upon us!
To convey the idea of unreality:
●Were he only here!/If only he were here!/I wish he were here!
Reference to past time:
●Had he only been here!/If only he had been here!/I wish he had been
here!
It is used in the subclause after verbs like suggest, recommend, ask, insist etc.;
after nouns like advice, time; after adjectives such as advisable, anxious,
desirable, essential, important, intolerable, necessary, vital etc.
●Father insists that Kate (should) finish her studies at university.
●Our advice is that the company not invest in new equipment now.
●It is time we started work.
4.2.2 Pontential subjunctive
It marks something as a mere conception of the mind, but at the same time
represents it as something that may probably or possibly be or become a
reality, or on the other hand as something contrary to fact. The potential
subjunctive is almost exclusively expressed with the modal auxiliaries
may/might, shall/should, must, ought to.
In order to learn about modal auxiliaries in detail, consult Swan 1995 and
Thomson and Martinet 1990.
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4.3 Conditional sentences
4.3.1 Real/Probable condition (Sentence type 1)
●I shall/will go if you invite me.
4.3.2 Accepted/Improbable condition (Sentence type 2)
●I would go if you invited me.
4.3.3 Rejected/Impossible condition (Sentence type 3)
●I would have gone if you had invited me.
4.3.4 Inversion
Instead of introducing the subordinate clause with the conjunction if, inversion
of verb and subject may be used in the case of the auxiliaries were, had, should,
also could when occurring with the perfect infinitive. The inverted form is
generally placed first.
5 The interrogative mood
The mood category associated with questions. A few languages have distinct verbal
inflections for this purpose but the interrogative mood is more commonly expressed by
particles, by word order or merely by intonation.
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Sources
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ISBN --- J 2—51
Bussmann, Hadumod. Routledge dictionary of language and linguistics. Translated and edited by Gregory
Trauth and Kerstin Kazzazi. Paperback ed. London ; New York : Routledge, 1998, ©1996. [xxx], 1304
p. : ill. ; … cm ISBN 0-203-98005-0
Budai László. English syntax : theory and practice. 2. kiad. Budapest : Tankönyvkiadó, 1986. 640 p. : ill. ; 20
cm (Tanuljunk nyelveket!, ISSN 0133-1094) ISBN 963-17-9558-6, in many editions
Sinclair, John (ed.-in-chief). Collins Cobuild English grammar. Reprinted. London ; Glasgow : Collins, 1990.
xxv, 486 p. ; 23.4 cm ISBN 0-00-370257-x
Swan, Michael. Practical English usage. 2nd edition. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 1995. xxx, 658 p. : ill. ;
23.3 cm ISBN 0-19-431197-x, many editions
Thomson, A. J. and Martinet, A. V. A practical English grammar. 4th edition. Oxford : Oxford University
Press, 1990, ©1986. 383 p. ; 21.6 cm ISBN 0-19-431348-4, in many editions
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Trask, R. L. The Penguin dictionary of English grammar. Harmondsworth : Penguin Books, 2000. vi, 148 p. ;
19.7 cm (Penguin reference, ISSN ---) ISBN 0-14-051464-3
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