• What are the ‘Moods’ of a verb in Grammar?

Unit 10 – Presentation 1

A verb’s ‘mood’ is like a person’s. In short, a ‘mood’ is a form of the verb that shows how the speaker/ writer feels about what s/he says/ writes.

• How many moods survive in English?

3: the Indicative, the Imperative & the Subjunctive

It’s the normal form of the verb tenses and it’s used to state facts.e.g. He took over as the department’s head six months ago. She’s graduating at the end of May.

How is the Indicative formed/ used?

It’s used to give orders, commands, instructions, warnings & advice, or to make requests.

How is the Imperative used?

• Positive: Bare Infinitive (+ accusative pronoun/ object)

• Negative: Do not (don’t) + bare infinitive (for all verbs, including ‘be’)

• Other Persons – Positive: Let + accusative pronoun/ object + bare infinitive

• Other Persons – Negative: Do not (Don’t) + let + acc. pron./ object + bare infinitive

• With prompting JUST & Emphasis (Emphatic Imperative: with ‘do’ in positive [See Un. 11])

Imperative formation

It’s used for non-fact. It’s often found in conditions, preferences, wishes, desires, demands, suggestions, regrets and decisions, while it can also express surprise, agreement, insistence and intention.

How is the Subjunctive used & where is it often found?

In many different ways in English, namely with the Infinitive & the Gerund (See Un. 8), the Modal Verbs (the word ‘modal’ is an adjective derived from ‘mood’) (See Un. 9 & 3.D here) and the ‘Unreal’ use of certain tenses, which we will analyse here.

How is the Subjunctive formed?

3.A)a) SIMPLE PAST FORM for PRESENT/ FUTUREe.g. I wish I knew what to say (but I don’t! → reference to present time but unreal)

b) PAST CONTINUOUS FORM for PRESENT/ FUTURE

e.g. If you were talking to him instead of me right now, you’d be able to register his reactions (but you are not! → reference to present time in progress but unreal)

3.A)c) SIMPLE PAST PERFECT FORM for NEAR PASTe.g. I wish I had found out about this scam sooner (but I didn’t! → reference to past time but unreal)

d) PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS FORM for NEAR PAST

e.g. I wish I had been studying harder while still at school (but I wasn’t! → reference to unreal past time, in progress for a certain amount of time)

3.A)e) CONDITIONAL FUTURE (would + infinitive

forms) for HYPOTHETICAL PAST/ PRESENT/ FUTURE (depending on infinitive form used

and/ or time markers)e.g. You would know about it if Mark was in town already (but you don’t, so he probably isn’t! → reference to hypothetical present time)

1) The unreal past of the verb ‘be’ can be ‘were’ for all persons e.g.” I wish he were here with us.” – “ If I were you, I’d talk to him

about it.”2) The conditional future – as the indicative future – can be formed

with other modal verbs besides ‘would’ (i.e. could OR might)e.g. “She might/ could have been arrested if she had been seen

lurking there.”

Notes on the Subjunctive

3.B) SUBJUNCTIVE (UNREAL) TENSE USES

AA) IN CONDITIONALS (See Un. 6)BB) IN WISHESCC) IN MANNER CLAUSES (with as if/ though for non-fact) (See Un. 6)DD) WITH would rather IN CHANGE-OF-PERSON CONSTRUCTIONS (See also Un. 8–Bare Infinitive)EE) IN THE PHRASE: It’s (high/ about) time (UNREAL PAST TENSES ONLY!)

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

AA) CONDITIONALS •Introduced by: if, unless, provided/-ing (that), so long as, on condition (that), in case (that), suppose/-ing (that) •4 Basic Forms:I) Zero Condition: If + present presentII) Type 1: If + present futureIII) Type 2: If + past conditional futureIV) Type 3: If + past perfect would + perfect infinitive

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

AA) CONDITIONALS – VARIATIONS OF THE 4 FORMS

a) Type 1 Extension: Any combination of tenses as long as they are used with their indicative-fact capacity.RESTRICTIONS: No future tenses in the ‘if’ clause & no conditional future in the main clause.

NB. This variation can be extended to zero condition as well.

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

AA) CONDITIONALS – VARIATIONS OF THE 4 FORMS

b) Mixed Types 2 & 3: •2nd-type ‘if’ clause + 3rd-type main clause = if sth were(n’t) generally true [which is(n’t)], it would(n’t) have had a certain result in the past•3rd-type ‘if’ clause + 2nd-type main clause = if sth had(n’t) been true in the past [which was(n’t)], it would(n’t) have a certain result now, i.e.

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

AA) CONDITIONALS – VARIATIONS OF THE 4 FORMS

b) Mixed Types 2 & 3: e.g. NORMAL TYPE 2:

If I had the money, I wouldn’t beg.

NORMAL TYPE 3: If I had won that lottery, I would have bought that

flashy sports car.

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

AA) CONDITIONALS–SPECIAL CASES-EMPHATIC FORMS

c) i) With ‘should’ for Type 1 – Emphasis: Inversionii) With ‘were/ were to’ for Type 2 - Emphasis: Inversioniii) Emphatic Inversion only for Type 3iv) With ‘but for’ in place of the 2nd or 3rd type if-clause

1) If, provided/-ing (that), so long as & on condition (that) have the same structure. Unless is their opposite, while suppose/ -ing (that) mainly has a distinctive interrogative main clause.The conditional link in case (that) may have the same constructions as the purpose link (See Un. 6 – Adverb Clauses, case 7) but different meanings.

2) We only use if in the basic forms to save space.

Notes on Conditionals

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

BB) WISHES •Introduced by: I/ you… wish OR If only sb… & expressing the desire for things to be different.

•3 Basic Forms:- Wish + Unreal Past (present)- Wish + Unreal Past Perfect (past)- Wish + would/ could + infinitive (future)

1) would is not used with I & we. Only could.2) The wish + would (not) form can also be used

to express displeasure, complaint or annoyance.

3) Could + inf. may not always be referring to a future wish. It might be used as the past tense of can for ability (See Un. 9). In this case, it corresponds to wish + past present reference OR, if found in the form could + perfect inf., to wish + perfect past reference.

Notes on Wishes

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

CC) MANNER CLAUSES•Introduced by: as if, as though (but are here used for non-fact).•2 Basic Forms:

- sb sounds/ looks/ acts/ … as if OR as though sb + past tenses unreal statement about the present/ future

- sb sounds/ looks/ acts/ … as if OR as though sb + past perfect tenses unreal statement about the past

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSISDD) DEFECTIVE STRUCTURES ‘WOULD RATHER’/ ‘HAD BETTER’

SAME PERSONI/You… had better/ would rather

+ bare infinitive (present/ future)

I/You… had better/ would rather

+ perfect infinitive (past)

PERSON CHANGE (would rather only)I/You… would rather sb else + unreal past (present/

future)I/You… would rather sb else + unreal past perfect (past)

3.C) STANDARD-CONSTRUCTIONS FORM ANALYSIS

EE) PHRASE: ‘IT’S TIME’1 Basic Form:

It’s time + sb + (unreal) past tenses present/ future

-This construction is only possible with the unreal past tenses, NOT the unreal past perfect ones, even when the phrase was said in the past.-Its emphatic alternatives: it’s high time/ it’s about time are mostly spoken and informal and show impatience, irritation or relief.

3.D)THE SUBJUNCTIVE USE OF ‘SHOULD’

• We know that ‘should’ can commonly be used in formal ‘that’-clauses to replace an infinitive or gerund, in both change-of-person and same-person constructions.

• FORM: Verb/Expression of demand/ opinion/ suggestion/ etc + (that) + sb + (should) + inf.