Realis mood
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A realis mood (
An example of the contrast between realis and irrealis moods is seen in the
However, since mood is a
Realis mood and indicative mood can be indicated by the respective glossing abbreviations REAL and IND.
The English indicative
In Modern English, the indicative mood is for statements of actuality or strong probability, and in addition acts as a default mood for all instances which do not require use of a specific mood:
- The spine-tailed swift flies faster than any other bird in the world. (present indicative)
- The Missouri and Mississippi Rivers past indicative)
- Mid-westerners will remember the flooding for many years to come. (future indicative)
Some forms of the indicative can be used with do, does, or did, either for emphasis, or to form questions or negatives. See do-support.
Distinctions between indicative and other moods such as the subjunctive were marked inflectionally to a greater extent in historical forms of the language than in Modern English. The following table shows the indicative suffixes used on regular verbs in Old English, Middle English and early and present-day Modern English.[1]
Present tense | Past tense | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singular | Plural | Singular | Plural | ||||
1st person | 2nd person | 3rd person | 1st and 3rd person | 2nd person | |||
Old English | -e | -st | -eþ | -aþ | -d-e | -d-est | -d-on |
Middle English | -e, -∅ | -st, -est | -th, -s | -e(n) | -d(e) | -d-st | -d-e(n) |
Early Modern English | -∅ | -st, -est | -th, -s | -∅ | -d | -d-st | -d |
Modern English | -∅ | -s | -d |
Other moods existing in English besides the indicative are the imperative ("Be quiet!") and the conditional ("I would be quiet") (although this is not always analyzed as a mood) and in some dialects, the subjunctive (as in "I suggest you be quiet"). For some further information, see English verbs and Uses of English verb forms.
Other
Although the indicative is generally the main or only realis mood, certain other languages have additional forms which can be categorized as separate realis moods.
Arabic and various other Semitic languages have two kinds of energetic moods, which express something which is strongly believed or which the speaker wishes to emphasize. Their exact meanings are dependent upon the prefix that is attached to them. For example, yaktubanna يَكتُبَنَّ is in the long energetic mood and has strong obligation meanings; it means "he certainly writes" and if it is preceded by la, layaktubanna, it will have the meaning of "he must write". The short energetic expresses weak obligation, e.g., yaktuban which means "he almost writes"; if it is preceded by a prefix like la, layaktuban, it means "he should write".
The declarative mood (abbreviated DECL) indicates that a statement is true, without any qualifications being made. For many languages this is just an alternative name for the indicative mood, although sometimes distinctions between them are drawn.[citation needed] It may contrast with inferential mood.
Reference is sometimes made to a "generic mood", for making general statements about a particular class of things; this may be considered to be an aspect rather than a mood. See gnomic aspect.
For other grammatical features which may be considered to mark distinct realis moods, see
References
- ^ The Cambridge History of the English Language. Richard M. Hogg, Roger Lass, Norman Francis Blake, Suzanne Romaine, R. W. Burchfield, John Algeo (2000).