The Category of Mood in Modern English

Mood is a grammatical category which indicates the attitude of the speaker towards the action expressed by the verb from the point of view of its reality.

In Modern English we distinguish three moods:

(1) The Indicative Mood

(2) The Imperative Mood

(3) The Oblique Moods

· The Indicative Mood shows that the action or state expressed by the verb is presented as a fact:

We went home early in the evening.

The Indicative Mood is also used to express a real condition, i.e. a condition the realization of which is considered possible:

If it rains, I shall stay at home.

· The Imperative Mood expresses a command or a request. In Modern English the Imperative Mood has only one form which coincides with the infinitive without the particle to; it is used in the second person (singular and plural):

Be quiet and hear what I tell you.

Please put the papers on the table, by the bed.

In forming the negative the auxiliary verb to do is always used, even with the verb to be:

Hush! Don't make a noise!

Don't be angry...

The auxiliary verb to do may also be used in affirmative sentences to make the request more emphatic:

But now, do sing again to us.

To make a request or an order more emphatic the subject expressed by the pronoun you is sometimes used. It is characteristic of colloquial speech:

I'll drive and you sleep awhile.

Note: A command addressed to the third person singular and plural is usually expressed with the help of the verb to let:

Let the child go home at once.

Let the children go home at once.

With the first person plural the verb to let is used to express an exhortation to a joint action:

Let's go and have some fresh coffee.

· The Oblique Moods show the fulfillment of the action as something desirable, doubtful, depending on certain conditions, etc., but not as a matter of fact. The following types of the Oblique Moods are distinguished:

- Subjunctive I

- Subjunctive II

- the Suppositional

- the Conditional

The Imperative Mood

The Imperative Mood represents an action as a command, urging, warning addressed to one’s interlocutor(s). In the Imperative Mood the speaker urges the person addressed to fulfill an action. It is a direct expression of one’s will. Therefore it is much more subjective than the Indicative Mood.

The Imperative Mood has only one simple form for the second person singular and plural, and it is the plain base-form of the verb. It is homonymous with the Bare Infinitive. There is no tense distinction or perfect aspect, and only very rarely does the continuous form occur, e.g. (1) Be preparing the dinner when he comes in. (2) Be always searching for truth. (3) And don’t you be forgetting about it. A passive is equally rare (but only with the verb “to be”), e.g. Be warned in time. Other auxiliaries are normally used in passive structures with the imperative, especially to tell people to arrange for things to be done for them, e.g. (1) Get washed. (2) Get vaccinated as soon as you can.

We can make an emphatic imperative with do + infinitive. This is common in polite requests, complaints and apologies, e.g. (1) Do sit down. (2) Do forgive me – I didn’t mean to interrupt.

Although do is not normally used as an auxiliary with be, do is used before be in negative and emphatic imperatives, e.g. (1) Don’t be silly! (2) Do be quiet!

The imperative does not usually have a subject, but we can use a noun or pronoun to make it clear who we are speaking to, e.g. (1) Mary come here – everybody else stay where you are. (2) Somebody answer the phone. (3) Nobody move. (4) Relax everybody. The personal pronoun you before an imperative can suggest emphatic persuasion or anger, e.g. (1) You just sit down and relax for a bit. (2) You take your hands off me! Note the word order in negative imperatives with pronoun subjects, e.g. (1) Don’t you believe it. (2) Don’t anybody say a word. In Old English the pronoun-subject was generally placed after the verb. This word order is still found in some set expressions, e.g. (1) Look you! (2) Mind you! Adverbs always and never come before imperatives, e.g. (1) Always remember what I told you. (2) Never speak to me like that again.

Patterns with appended Will you, won’t you, would you, can you, can’t you, could you express a less categorical command, sometimes a request, e.g. (1) Give me a hand, will you? (2) Get me something to drink, can’t you? Commands are apt to sound abrupt unless toned down by markers of politeness such as “please”, e.g. (1) Please eat up your dinner. (2) Shut the door, please. Even this achieves only a minimum degree of ceremony; more tactful form of request can only be achieved by changing the command into a question or a statement, e.g. (1) Will you shut the door, please? (2) I wonder if you would kindly shut the door? (3) I wonder if you would mind shutting the door?

Let can be used to introduce suggestions and orders, when these are not addressed to the hearer/ reader (or only to the hearer/ reader). This structure can be considered a kind of imperative.

1^st person plural imperative We can use let us (formal) or let’s (informal) to make suggestions or to give orders to a group that includes the speaker, e.g. (1) Let us pray. (2) OK, let’s all get moving. Shall we? is used as a question tag in British English; let’s is used as a short answer, e.g. Let’s go for a walk, shall we? Yes, let’s. There are two possible negatives, with let us not and do not let us (informal let’s not/ don’t let’s), e.g. (1) Let us not despair (formal). (2) Let’s not get angry (informal). (3) Do not let us forget those who came before us (formal). (4) Don’t let’s stay up too late tonight (informal). Forms with don’t let’s (and let’s don’t in American English) are very informal.

1^st person singular imperative Let me is used to “give instructions to oneself”; the expressions Let me see and Let me think are very common, e.g. (1) “What time do you want to have your breakfast?” “Let me think. Yes, I reckon eight o’clock will be early enough.” (2) Now what’s the best way to get to Manchester? Let me see – suppose I take the M6 from Birmingham… (3) Let me get my coat and I’ll be with you. In a very informal style, let’s is often used to mean let me, e.g. Let’s see. Suppose I take the M6 from Birmingham…

3^rd person imperative Let can also introduce a suggestion or order for someone or something else, not the speaker or hearer. This is common in formal and ceremonial language, but informal uses are also possible, e.g. “Your boyfriend’s going out with another girl.” “Let him. I don’t care.” Note the structure with let + there be, e.g. Let there be no doubt in your minds about our intentions.

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