Verb Moods
Verb moods specify a certain condition within the sentence.
(Learn more here)
Common Core standards L.8.1.c; L.8.1.d
Indicative Mood
What it is: The indicative mood is the most common verb mood. It is the cause of declarative sentences or statements. Indicative sentences end in a period or an exclamation point.
When it’s used: The indicative mood is used to convey information.
Sentence structure: Subject + verb and any objects/modifiers
Examples: The sky is blue. Stuart threw up. The building is on fire!
Imperative Mood
What it is: The imperative mood is better known as a command. The sentence often ends in a period, but sometimes ends in an exclamation point.
When it’s used: The imperative mood is only used to give a command. Sometimes it can be confused with the indicative mood, especially when using direct address. The imperative mood will only ever have an implied subject – you. The subject will never be explicitly stated.
Sentence structure: Implied subject or direct address + verb
Examples: Turn on the light. Don’t go there. Give me all your Pokémon cards.
Interrogative Mood
What it is: Much like interrogation scenes of old cop shows, the interrogative mood is used to ask questions. Sentences in the interrogative mood always and only end in question marks.
When it’s used: The interrogative mood is used to ask questions.
Sentence structure: Interrogative word + subject + rest of sentence
Note: The sentence structure of indicative and interrogative sentences is switched. In indicative sentences, the subject typically comes first. In interrogative sentences, the first word is generally a question word or a modal auxiliary verb. Thus, if you were to switch an interrogative sentence to an indicative sentence, you would need to switch the first two words, and your indicative sentence would end up with a modal auxiliary verb in addition to the main verb.
Examples: Do you like mini golf? Have you eaten lunch? Will you go to the store?
Conditional Mood
What it is: Do you see the word “condition” in “conditional?” That’s the secret to what this mood is. The conditional mood requires a condition to be fulfilled in order for the action to occur.
When it’s used: There are four types of conditional mood, and each is used at a different time.
Zero conditional: This is used for outcomes that will always happen given conditions. If you go outside in the pouring rain without an umbrella, you are guaranteed to get wet. Even if you run really fast, short of superpowers, there’s no other possible outcome.
First conditional: This is used for outcomes that will probably happen, but are not guaranteed. If you refuse to study for a test, you will probably not get an A. It’s not guaranteed, however, depending on the test and your own knowledge of the subject.
Second conditional: This is used for situations that are very unlikely, though still technically possible. When we get into subjunctive below, you’ll see that there’s a significant overlap between second conditional and subjunctive. What you need to know about second conditional is that the outcome is still technically possible. If you never play the lottery, there is no chance of you winning. That is not the second conditional. If you’re a fully-grown adult, there is no possibility that you will grow tall enough to play professional basketball. That is not the second conditional. However, if you’re in middle school or high school, there’s still a chance, however slight, that you will grow tall enough to play professional basketball. It’s very unlikely, but still possible. That situation would use the second conditional.
Third conditional: Unlike the other three conditional moods, the third conditional does not look to the future but to the past. The third conditional says that if something was different in the past, then the present would be different. It’s the “hindsight is 20/20” of the verb moods. Everyone has things that they would change in their past had they known their present circumstance. That’s when the third conditional is used.
Sentence structure: The conditional mood is made up of two clauses. The first specifies the condition that must be fulfilled; it usually begins with “if” or “when.” The second clause is the main clause, and it lays out the results of what happens if or when the condition is met. This means that each clause uses a certain type of verb. Listed below are the verb forms for each type of conditional clause.
Zero conditional: present simple + present simple
First conditional: present simple + will/won’t + verb
Second conditional: past simple + would/wouldn’t + verb
Third conditional: past perfect + would have / wouldn’t have + past participle
Note: Many of these structures are picked up naturally by native English speakers. At this level, grammar is less about right vs. wrong and more about the why behind the right.
Examples:
Zero conditional: If you run faster, you jump farther.
First conditional: If you work hard, you will succeed at your job.
Second conditional: If I had a million dollars, I would buy a fancy car.
Third conditional: If I had known about the Covid lockdown, I would have bought toilet paper two weeks ago.
Practice! Identify the conditional (zero, first, second, third):
If you had cleaned your room, you would have found where the mice were living.
If you add baking soda to vinegar, it explodes.
If I built my dream house, it would have a greenhouse and a pool.
If I had left earlier, I would have gotten there on time.
If you don’t get enough sleep, you will be tired tomorrow.
Answers
Third conditional
Zero conditional
Second conditional
Third conditional
First conditional
Subjunctive Mood
What it is: Some grammar books combine the conditional and subjunctive mood together. Some will call that combined mood “conditional,” and some will call it “subjunctive.” Still other books will keep these two moods separate. Although there is a significant overlap between the two (more information on the overlap below), the moods are different enough in use and formation that I teach them separately.
Note: I have found that use of the subjunctive is starting to decline. Many concepts that can be conveyed through the subjunctive can also be conveyed using one of the other verb moods. However, formal style books still list the subjunctive as the fifth verb mood, and so I continue teaching it.
When it’s used: The subjunctive mood is used for completely unrealistic or hypothetical situations. It’s also used to convey importance or urgency using that-clauses or as if/as though clauses.
Overlap between conditional and subjunctive: Because the second conditional deals with situations that are unlikely, and the third conditional is used in situations where the present would be different had the past been changed, both fall under the category of “unreal or hypothetical” situations that the subjunctive mood is used for. If you’re in a situation where you have to sort sentences by mood, a strong case could be made for certain sentences to be correctly categorized as conditional (second or third) or subjunctive.
Sentence structure: be/were ; base form of verb
Note: Even if the subject is singular, there is no –s added to the base form of the verb in the subjunctive. Sometimes this makes the sentence sound very weird, which is one of the reasons other moods are used instead.
Examples: It is critical that he show up to work on time. If I were president, I would make a four-day workweek.
Practice! Justify each sentence as conditional (second/third) or subjunctive. There are no answers for this, as the focus is on the explanation and justification rather than “getting it right.” All sentences can be either mood; your task is to pick one and support your answer.
If I got my doctorate, I would fully support my school.
If she ate liver and onions, she would get a stomach ache.
If you left earlier, you wouldn’t be late.
If he were your boss, you could have parties in the office every day.
If we played a game, Stuart would win.
Maintaining Consistent Mood
What it is: When a sentence contains multiple verbs, those verbs should be in the same mood. This happens most often between indicative and imperative sentences.
What it isn’t: Be careful not to over-correct. As you saw in the conditional and subjunctive moods, sometimes the various clauses of a sentence have different verb moods on purpose.
Why it’s important: If a sentence contains multiple verb moods, the reader will get confused. Different moods are used to indicate different purposes of a sentence. If a sentence starts out in the indicative mood, the reader will assume the sentence’s purpose is to convey information. If that sentence suddenly shifts to the imperative mood, the purpose is suddenly different as well.
Why mood shift happens: Often, the writer is so caught up in the words and events that they’re writing about that they simply don’t notice the shift occurring. The trick is to go back and reread your work before considering it finished. Be on the lookout especially for shifts in mood (or voice, as explained above).
Examples: You should take two aspirin, then call the doctor in the morning. This sentence wants to be imperative, and many people think it is. However, remember that the imperative mood has an implied subject. In the first clause, the subject YOU is stated. The first clause is indicative, while the second is imperative.
How to fix it: First, identify the mood of each clause. Most shifts in verb mood happen between the indicative and imperative moods. Once you have identified a shift in mood, determine the purpose of the sentence. This will help you determine which mood should be used throughout the sentence. Then change the mood of the other clause to match. (See individual verb moods above for sentence/clause structure.)
Practice! Find and correct the shifts in verb mood.
Wear your helmet, and you should tell me when you leave for your bike trip.
Read the directions carefully, and you must answer every question.
Do your homework if you want to play video games before bed.
When learning grammar, learn the basic rules, then it is also important to practice applying them.
Clean your room, then I would like you to bake me a cake.
Answers
Imperative + Indicative -> Wear your helmet and tell me when you leave for your bike trip.
Imperative + Indicative -> Read the directions carefully and answer every question.
Imperative + Conditional -> If you want to play video games before bed, you should do your homework.
Imperative + Indicative -> When learning grammar, learn the basic rules, then practice applying them.
Imperative + Indicative -> Clean your room, then bake me a cake.
Alternate Solutions for Correcting Verb Mood Shift
You should wear your helmet and tell me when you leave for your bike trip.
You must read the directions carefully and answer every question.
You should do your homework if you want to play video games before bed.
When learning grammar, it is important to learn the basic rules, then practice applying them.
I would like you to clean your room then bake me a cake.