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Arealis mood (abbreviatedREAL) is agrammatical mood which is used principally to indicate that something is a statement of fact; in other words, to express what the speaker considers to be a known state of affairs, as indeclarative sentences. Most languages have a single realis mood called theindicative mood, although some languages have additional realis moods, for example to express different levels of certainty. By contrast, anirrealis mood is used to express something that is not known to be the case in reality.
An example of the contrast between realis and irrealis moods is seen in theEnglish sentences "He works" and "It is necessary that he work". In the first sentence,works is apresent indicative (realis) form of the verb, and is used to make a direct assertion about the real world. In the second sentence,work is in thesubjunctive mood, which is an irrealis mood – herethat he work does not necessarily express a fact about the real world (he could be rejecting necessity and refusing to work), but refers to what would be a desirable state of affairs.
However, since mood is agrammatical category, referring to the form a verb takes rather than its meaning in a given instance, a given language may use realis forms for a number of purposes other than their principal one of making direct factual statements. For example, many languages use indicative verb forms to ask questions (this is sometimes calledinterrogative mood) and in various other situations where the meaning is in fact of the irrealis type (as in the English "I hope it works", where the indicativeworks is used even though it refers to a desired rather than real state of affairs). The indicative might therefore be defined as the mood used in all instances where a given language does not specifically require the use of some other mood.
Realis mood and indicative mood can be indicated by the respectiveglossing abbreviationsREAL andIND.
InModern 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:
Some forms of the indicative can be used withdo,does, ordid, either for emphasis, or to form questions or negatives. Seedo-support.
Distinctions between indicative and other moods such as thesubjunctive were marked inflectionally to a greater extent in historical forms of the language than inModern English. The following table shows the indicative suffixes used on regular verbs inOld 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 theimperative ("Be quiet!") and theconditional ("Iwould be quiet") (although this is not always analyzed as a mood) and in some dialects, thesubjunctive (as in "I suggest yoube quiet"). For some further information, seeEnglish verbs andUses of English verb forms.
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 otherSemitic languages have two kinds ofenergetic 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,yaktubannaيَكتُبَنَّ is in the long energetic mood and has strong obligation meanings; it means "he certainly writes" and if it is preceded byla,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 likela,layaktuban, it means "he should write".
Thedeclarative mood (abbreviatedDECL) 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 withinferential 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. Seegnomic aspect.
For other grammatical features which may be considered to mark distinct realis moods, seeEvidentiality,Sensory evidential mood, andMirativity. See alsoLinguistic modality.