General Notions of the Moods in ME

LESSON 1 General Characteristics of the Moods in English

Definitions

Mood is a grammatical means to express modality – the speaker’s attitude towards the event/ activity/ action in reality. Modality can be expressed by several means:

1. Lexical - modal words, e.g. certainly, probably, perhaps. These words express various
degrees of certainty or uncertainty or desirability on the part of the speaker in relation to
the action expressed by the predicate of the sentence.

e.g. Perhaps he will come tomorrow.

I'II probably see him at the meeting.

2. Lexico-grammatical - modal verbs. They express necessity, obligation, possibility,
probability, desirability, etc. with regard to the fulfillment of the action denoted by the
infinitive which follows modal verbs.

e.g. You should help your friend. You can easily do it.

How could you do it? You may visit him every Monday.

3. Grammatical - the category of mood. It is the main means of expressing modality. It
shows whether the speaker perceives an action as a fact or as a non-fact, it expresses the
relation of the action towards reality as stated by the speaker. So, the speaker views an event as real, hypothetical or problematic, and unreal, e.g.

1) He was here yesterday.

2) She ordered he should be here tomorrow.

3) I wish he were here tomorrow.

4) If I were you, I wouldn't do it.

5) You wouldn't have allowed the children to go boating if you were more sensible.

The Number of Moods in Modern English

There are two main Russian grammar schools:

1. The S.-Petersburg (or Leningrad) school of grammarians (Kaushanskaya V.)

2. The Moscow school of grammarians (Ganshina M., Smirnitskiy)

The S.-Petersburg School of grammarians distinguishes between three moods in ME: the Indicative Mood, the Imperative Mood, the Subjunctive Mood. The Moscow School of grammarians distinguishes between: two direct moods - the Indicative Mood and the Imperative Mood; four oblique moods - Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, the Suppositional and the Conditional moods.

General Notions of the Moods in ME

1. The Imperative Mood expresses a command or a request. In ME the Imperative Mood has only one form which coincides with the Infinitive without the particle «to». It is used in the second person singular or plural.

e.g. Come to the board! Leave the room!

Be an angel and fetch my newspaper, please!

In forming the negative form the auxiliary verb «to do» is always used, even with the verbs «do, be»

e.g. Don't go there! Don't be so touchy! Don't do it!

To make a request or command more emphatic the subject expressed by the pronoun «you» is sometimes used. It is a marker of colloquial speech. It is used:

a) with emphatic force:

e.g. You take your things and go away!

b) when orders are given to different persons:
e.g. You go to the station and you call him up.

c) when speaking with children:

e.g. Children listen to me!

Emphatic forms of the Imperative Mood are built sometimes with the help of:

a) the verb «to do» followed by the Infinitive;
e.g. Do come to see me tonight!

b) «will you» which follows the Imperative. In this case the command turns into a kind of
request;

e.g. Turn to the right here, will you?

Give me your book, will you?

A command addressed to the third person singular or plural is usually expressed with the help of the verb «let». The combination «let + Infinitive» is also used with the 1-st person

e.g. Let the children go to bed. Let the child go to bed. Let me go there. Let us stop quarrelling.

2. The Indicative Mood shows that the event/ action or state expressed by the predicate is presented as a fact. e.g.

I live in Novosibirsk.

The verb in the Indicative Mood expresses the meanings of the following grammatical categories: tense, aspect, time correlation, voice, number, person.

The Indicative Mood is used to express a real condition in complex sentences. A complex

sentence consists of two parts: the principal clause and the subordinate clause:

e.g. If he comes early, he will ring me up.

The following rules may be observed within. If a real situation is meant and we

think that the outcome is really possible, the present tenses are used in the subordinate

clauses and the future tenses in the principal parts.

e.g. If you keep driving like that, you 'II have an accident.

If she has finished work by 4 o 'clock she will go home.

If he doesn’t hurry, the plane will have left by the time he gets to the airport, (the

Perfect form emphasizes completeness)

If one situation depends on another, «if» can be replaced by «as/so long as», «provided» or «only if».

e.g. I’ll do what you say provided the police are not informed.

«Even if» describes how something will happen whatever the condition. e.g. Even if it rains, we’ll still go for a picnic.

Other tenses can be used in if-sentences.

1. What is always true: present + present. Both present simple and continuous are possible

after //meaning when.

e.g. If I work late, I get tired (= когда я работаю допоздна, я устаю).

If the water is boiling, the food is nearly ready.

2. What was always true: past + past. Both past simple and continuous are possible after
«if» meaning «when».

e.g. We went home early if it was foggy (=мы шли домой рано, когда был туман). If it was snowing, we stayed at home.

3. Possible situations in the present or past can be expressed with the help of modal verbs
in the principal part:

e.g. If you get wet, you should change your clothes immediately. If I got tired, I could go out with a friend or read a good book.

4. «Going to» can replace «will» in the principal clause to express smth inevitable:
e.g. If you fall, you 're going to hurt yourself.

«Going to» can be used to mean «intend to» after «if». e.g. If you 're going to make trouble, we 'll call the police.

5. «Will» in the subordinate clause can be used as a polite form:

e.g. If you will wait here, I’ll see if Mrs. Green is free.

«Will» can also be used for emphasis, meaning «insist on doing».

e.g. If you will stay out late, no wonder you’re tired, (insist on staying)

6. «If so/if not» can refer to a sentence understood but not stated.
e.g. There is a possibility that Jack will be late.

If so, I'll take his place.

7. Colloquial omission of «if» can be observed in an imperative used instead of an «if-
clause» in everyday speech.

e.g. Sit down, and I 'II make us a cup of tea. (If you sit down...)

8. In expressions such as «if it is necessary/obligatory/impossible)) etc. it is possible to
omit the verb «be».

e.g. If interested, apply within. If necessary, take a taxi.

9. Formally «if» can mean «although», usually «if + adjective».
e.g. The room was well-finished, if a little badly decorated.

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