The category of mood

The category of mood is the most controversial category of the verb. Professor Ilyish wrote : “the category of mood in the present English verb has given rise to so many discussions and has been treated in so many different ways that it seems hardly possible to arrive at any more or less convincing and universally acceptable conclusion concerning it”.

Extensive investigations were undertaken by Soviet scholars in the past decades. They are A.I. Smirnitsky, Ilyish, Barkhudarov and a number of others.

The category of mood expresses the character of connection between the process denoted by the verb and the actual reality, either presenting the process as a fact that really happened, happens or will happen, or treating it as an imaginary phenomenon.

Academician V.Vinogradov wrote: “Mood expresses the relation of the action to reality as a stated by the speaker”. Mood is one of the kinds of modality, which may be expressed also by lexical means (modal verbs and modal words) and intonation (melody).

Mood modality is based on the opposition: reality – unreality.

Most of the soviet grammarians distinguish three moods in Modern English. It is a traditional division

1) Indicative expressing real facts.

2) Imperative expressing command, order, request.

3) Subjunctive expressing something desirable, problematic, unreal etc.

The Indicative has no special forms of expression – it is all the tenses in active and passive. H. Sweet calls it a fact mood. Its modal meaning is reality and it may be considered as expressing zero modality.

The Subjunctive mood may be expressed both synthetically and analytically. E.g. I wish you were here.

There are different points of view as to the number of moods in M.E. Professor Smirnitsky distinguishes 4 oblique moods: Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, the Conditional and the Suppositional. Each of them differs in modal meaning and in form.

1) Subjunctive I expresses synthetically a problematic action, which doesn’t contradict reality.

E.g. He gave orders that we be present.

2) Subjunctive II expresses synthetically and analytically an unreal action. E.g. I wish you were not late.

3) The Conditional mood expresses analytically depended unreality: the realization of the action depends on some condition, which may not be expressed. E.g. It would be good to be here.

4) The Suppositional mood expresses analytically a problematic action, not contradicting reality. The realization of the action may depend on certain circumstances. E.g. Should you meet him, tell him to come

The Suppositional and Subjunctive I almost coincide in meaning but differ in style and usage.

Professor Barkhudarov finds only 2 moods: Imperative and Indicative, the latter may express unreality by the shifting of tenses or context. He puts Subjunctive I as Imperative on the ground that they both are similar in form and meaning. E.g. I suggest that he go there. Go there!

Some of the scholars (Plotkin) are of the opinion that there is no morphological system of moods at all and various mood meanings are expressed syntactically and by lexico-semantic means. The mood forms are often homonymous and synonymous and their meanings often depend on the context.

E.g. I wish he would go.

He would go if u went.

He said he would go.

Various oblique mood meanings are connected with syntax rather than with morphology and one and the same meaning may be expressed by different forms: If he came. If he had come. Should he come.

One and the same form may express different modality:

Necessity: It is necessary that he should come.

Doubt: We feared that he should come.

Order, suggestion: I order that he should come.