19) The category of Mood. Definition. Ways of expressing modality. Conceptions of the mood systems

Mood is a verbal grammatical category which serves to express the modality of an action. By modality we mean the relation of what is said to reality. That means whether we speak about real actions or actions which are possible, necessary, probable, desirable, or unreal. Modality may be expressed in different ways:

a) by means of mood-forms of the verb, e.g He was here yesterday. I wish he were here;

b) by modal verbs which may express modality both lexically and grammatically at the same time. e.g.

I couldn't speak to him tomorrow even if I wished.

The form couldn ? expresses modality twice: on the one hand by its lexical meaning of possibility, and on the other by its mood-form.

c) by parenthetic words, i.e. lexically: certainly, perhaps, to be sure, I believe, etc.

d) by phonetical ways. i.e. by means of intonation, e.g. He is a | good man.

All the four ways of expression of modality may be found in one and the same sentence, e.g. Certainly you could come to see me tomorrow.

The number of grammatical moods very depending on the viewpoint of a scientist and his way of approaching the problem. Moods are usually divided into direct or indirect or oblique.

The indicative and the imperative moodsare considered to be direct because they directly denote the fact of an action or that another person is directly addressed and useed to fulfill a certain action.

So the indicative mood expresses real actions from the speakers point of view.

The imperative mood is the form of a verb used to express commands or requests. If the indicative mood has the greatest number of forms, the imperative mood has the fewest. Since it expresses requests or commands it has no tense forms, because there is no sense, for example, in requests or commands directed to the past. Commands or requests may be only in two forms: in the affirmative and in the negative.

The most popular in Grammar has become the system of moods put forward By Prof. Smirnitsky. He speaks of 6 mood forms:

The Indicative Mood; The Imperative Mood; Subjunctive I; Subjunctive II; The Conditional Mood; The Suppositional Mood.

20)The Indicative Mood

The number of grammatical moods very depending on the viewpoint of a scientist and his way of approaching the problem. Moods are usually divided into direct or indirect or oblique.

The indicative and the imperative moodsare considered to be direct because they directly denote the fact of an action or that another person is directly addressed and useed to fulfill a certain action.

So the indicative mood expresses real actions from the speakers point of view.

The imperative mood is the form of a verb used to express commands or requests. If the indicative mood has the greatest number of forms, the imperative mood has the fewest. Since it expresses requests or commands it has no tense forms, because there is no sense, for example, in requests or commands directed to the past. Commands or requests may be only in two forms: in the affirmative and in the negative.