Irrealis mood

In [[linguistics]], '''irrealis moods''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''irr'''}}) are the main set of [[grammatical mood]]s that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. This contrasts with the [[realis mood]]s. They are used in statements without [[truth value]] (imperative, interrogative, subordinate, etc).

Every language has grammatical ways of expressing unreality. Linguists tend to reserve the term "irrealis" for particular [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] markers or [[clause|clause types]]. Many languages with irrealis mood make further subdivisions between kinds of irrealis moods. This is especially so among [[Algonquian languages]] such as [[Blackfoot language|Blackfoot]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bar-El | first1 = Leora | last2 = Denzer-King | first2 = Ryan | date = 2008 | title = Irrealis in Blackfoot? | url = http://www.linguistics.ucsb.edu/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.ling.d7/files/sitefiles/research/papers/Working%20Papers%20Vol%2019.pdf | journal = Workshop on American Indigenous Languages | volume = 19 | pages = 7–9 | access-date = 3 September 2017 }}</ref>

== List of irrealis moods ==

{| class="sortable wikitable" |- ! Mood !! Event, as intended by speaker !! Example !! Found in |- | [[Subjunctive mood|Subjunctive]] ({{gcl|SJV}} or {{gcl|SBJV}}) | Event is considered unlikely (mainly used in dependent clauses). | "If I were to love you..." | {{flatlist| * [[English language|English]] * [[Latin]] and [[Romance languages]] * [[German language|German]] * [[Vedic Sanskrit]] * [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] * [[Hindi]] * [[Persian language|Persian]] }} |- | [[Conditional mood|Conditional]] ({{gcl|COND}}) | Event depends upon another condition. | "I would love you" | {{flatlist| * [[English language|English]] * [[German language|German]] * [[Romance languages]] * [[Icelandic language|Icelandic]] * [[Irish language|Irish]] * [[Hindi]] * [[Finnish language|Finnish]] * [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] * [[Polish language|Polish]] }} |- | [[Optative mood|Optative]] ({{gcl|OPT}}) | Event is hoped,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Optative Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/optative-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> expected, or awaited. | "May I be loved!" | {{flatlist| * [[Albanian language|Albanian]] * [[Latin]] and [[Romance languages]] (as a form of the [[Subjunctive mood|subjunctive]]) * [[Ancient Greek]]<ref name=":0" /> * [[Sanskrit]] * [[Avestan]] * [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] }} |- | [[Jussive mood|Jussive]] ({{gcl|JUS}}) | Event is pleaded, implored or asked.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Jussive Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/jussive-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "Everyone should be loved" | {{flatlist| * [[Arabic language|Arabic]] * [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] * [[Esperanto]] }} |- | [[Potential mood|Potential]] ({{gcl|POT}}) | Event is probable or considered likely | "She probably loves me" | {{flatlist| * [[Finnish language|Finnish]] * [[Japanese language|Japanese]] * [[Sanskrit]] * [[Sami languages]] * [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] }} |- | [[Imperative mood|Imperative]] ({{gcl|IMP}}) [[Prohibitive mood|Prohibitive]] ({{gcl|PROH}}) | Event is directly ordered or requested by the speaker.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Imperative Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/imperative-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> Event is directly prohibited by the speaker.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Prohibitive Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/prohibitive-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "Love me!" "Do not love me" | {{flatlist| * [[English language|English]]<ref name=":1" /> * [[Finnish language|Finnish]] * [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] * [[Japanese language|Japanese]] * [[Latin]] and [[Romance languages]] * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] * [[Seri language|Seri]] }} |- | [[Desiderative mood|Desiderative]] ({{gcl|DES}} or {{gcl|DESI}}) | Event is desired/wished by a participant in the state of affairs referred to in the utterance<ref>{{Cite web|title=WALS Online - Chapter The Optative|url=https://wals.info/chapter/73#:~:text=3.2.&text=Both%20categories%20involve%20the%20expression,referred%20to%20in%20the%20utterance.|access-date=2021-05-11|website=wals.info}}</ref> | "I wish he loved me." | {{flatlist| * [[Japanese language|Japanese]] * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] * [[Sanskrit]] * [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] }} |- | [[Dubitative mood|Dubitative]] ({{gcl|DUB}}) | Event is uncertain, doubtful, dubious.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Dubitative Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/dubitative-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "She seems to love me." | {{flatlist| * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] * [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]]<ref name=":2" /> * [[Turkish language|Turkish]] }} |- | [[Hypothetical mood|Hypothetical]] ({{gcl|HYP}}) | Event is hypothetical, or it is [[Counterfactual conditional|counterfactual]], but possible.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Hypothetical Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/hypothetical-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "I might love you [if...]" | {{flatlist| * [[Russian language|Russian]] * [[Lakota language|Lakota]]<ref name=":3" /> }} |- | [[Presumptive mood|Presumptive]] ({{gcl|PRESM}}) | Event is assumed, presupposed by the speaker. | "Knowing the way you love me [...]" | {{flatlist| * [[Romanian language|Romanian]] * [[Hindi]] * [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] * [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] }} |- | [[Permissive mood|Permissive]] ({{gcl|PERM}}) | Event is permitted by the speaker.<ref>{{cite web|editor1-last=Loos|editor1-first=Eugene E.|editor2-last=Anderson|editor2-first=Susan|editor3-last=Day|editor3-first=Dwight H. Jr.|editor4-last=Jordan|editor4-first=Paul C.|editor5-last=Wingate|editor5-first=J. Douglas|title=What is permissive mood?|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/permissive-mood|access-date=2009-12-28|work=Glossary of linguistic terms|publisher=SIL International}}</ref> | "You may [not] love me..." | {{flatlist| * [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] (as a form of the [[Optative mood|optative]]) * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] }} |- | [[Mirative mood|Mirative]] ({{gcl|MIR}}) [[Admirative mood|Admirative]] | Event is surprising or amazing (literally or in irony or sarcasm). | "Wow! They love me!", "Apparently they love me." | {{flatlist| * [[Turkish language|Turkish]] * [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] * [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] * [[Albanian language|Albanian]] * [[Megleno-Romanian language|Megleno-Romanian]] * [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] * [[Balkan sprachbund]] (merges with the [[Inferential mood|inferential]]) }} |- | [[Hortative mood|Hortative]] ({{gcl|HORT}}) | Event is exhorted, implored, insisted or encouraged by speaker. | "Let us love!" | {{flatlist| * [[Latin language|Latin]] (as a form of the [[Jussive mood|jussive]]) * [[Greek Language|Greek]] (as a form of the [[Subjunctive mood|subjunctive]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smyth |first1=Herbert |title=Greek Grammar |date=1984 |publisher=Harvard University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-674-36250-0 |pages=403–404 (§1797–1799)}}</ref> * [[Hindi]] * [[Japanese language|Japanese]] }} |- | {{visanc|Eventive|Eventive mood}} ({{gcl|EVM}}) | Event is likely but depends upon a condition; a combination of the potential and conditional. | "I would probably love you [if...]" | {{flatlist| * [[Finnish language|Finnish]] (in the epic poem [[Kalevala]]) * [[Estonian language|Estonian]], in some dialects }} |- | {{visanc|Precative|Precative mood}} ({{gcl|PREC}}) | Event is requested by the speaker.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Precative Mood|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/precative-mood|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "Will you love me?" | [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] |- | [[Volitive mood|Volitive]] ({{gcl|VOL}}) | Event is desired, wished or feared by the speaker.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2015-12-03|title=Volitive Modality|url=https://glossary.sil.org/term/volitive-modality|access-date=2020-08-12|website=SIL Glossary of Linguistic Terms|language=en}}</ref> | "Would that you loved me!" / "God forbid [that] you love me!" | [[Japanese language|Japanese]] |- | [[Inferential mood|Inferential]] ({{gcl|INFER}} or {{gcl|INFR}}) | Event is not witnessed and not confirmed. | "Something tells me she loves me." | {{flatlist| * [[Turkish language|Turkish]] * [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] * [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ("renarrative mood") * [[Estonian language|Estonian]] ("oblique mood") * [[Balkan sprachbund]] (merges with the [[Mirative mood|mirative]]) }} |- | [[Necessitative mood|Necessitative]] ({{gcl|NEC}}) | Event is necessary, or it is both desired and encouraged; a combination of the [[Hortative mood|hortative]] and [[Jussive mood|jussive]]. | "It is necessary that you should love me." | {{flatlist| * [[Armenian language|Armenian]] * [[Turkish language|Turkish]] }} |- | [[Interrogative mood|Interrogative]] ({{gcl|INTERR}}) | Event is asked or questioned by the speaker | "Does he love me?" | {{flatlist| * [[Welsh language|Welsh]] * [[Nenets language|Nenets]] }} |- | [[Benedictive mood|Benedictive]] ({{gcl|BEND}}) | Event is requested or wished by the speaker in a polite or honorific fashion. | "Would you please be so kind as to love me?" | {{flatlist| * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] * [[Sanskrit]] }} |- | {{visanc|Concessive|Concessive mood}} ({{gcl|CONC}}) | Event is presupposed or admitted as part of a refutation. | "Even if she loves me [...]"; "Although she loves me [...]" | {{flatlist| * [[Adyghe language|Adyghe]] * [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] }} |- | {{visanc|Prescriptive|Prescriptive mood}} ({{gcl|PRESCR}}) | Event is prescribed by the speaker (though not demanded), but with the expectation that it will occur. | "Please [do not] love me."; "Go ahead, love me." | [[Mongolian language|Mongolian]] |- | {{visanc|Admonitive|Admonitive mood}} ({{gcl|ADMON}}) {{visanc|Vetitive|Vetitive mood}} ({{gcl|VET}}) {{visanc|Apprehensive|Apprehensive mood}} ({{gcl|APPR}}) | Event is warned against happening. | "Beware loving me." | {{flatlist| * [[Apma language|Apma]] * [[Classical Nahuatl]] * [[Sumerian language|Sumerian]] * [[Taba language|Taba]] }} |}

== Moods ==

=== Subjunctive === {{main|Subjunctive mood}} The '''subjunctive mood''', sometimes called '''conjunctive mood''', has several uses in [[dependent clause]]s. Examples include discussing hypothetical or unlikely events, expressing opinions or emotions, or making polite requests (the exact scope is language-specific). A subjunctive mood exists in English, but it often is not obligatory. Example: "I suggested that Paul {{em|eat}} an apple", Paul is not in fact eating an apple. Contrast this with the sentence "Paul {{em|eats}} an apple", where the verb "to eat" is in the present tense, [[indicative mood]]. Another way, especially in [[British English]], of expressing this might be "I suggested that Paul {{em|should eat}} an apple", derived from "Paul should eat an apple."

Other uses of the subjunctive in English, as in "And {{em|if he be}} not able to bring a lamb, then he shall bring for his trespass..." ([[King James Version|KJV]] [[Leviticus]] 5:7), have become archaic or formal.<ref>Anita Mittwoch, Rodney Huddleston and Peter Collins. "The clause: Adjuncts." Pp. 745. Chapter 8 of {{Harv|Huddleston|Pullum|2002}}.</ref> Statements such as "I shall ensure that {{em|he leave}} immediately" often are formal, and often have been supplanted by constructions with the indicative, such as "I'll make sure [that] {{em|he leave{{strong|s}}}} immediately". (In other situations, the verb form for subjunctive and indicative may be identical: "I'll make sure [that] {{em|you leave}} immediately.)

The subjunctive mood figures prominently in the [[grammar]] of the [[Romance languages]], which require this mood for certain types of dependent clauses. This point commonly causes difficulty for English speakers learning these languages.

In certain other languages, the dubitative or the conditional moods may be employed instead of the subjunctive in referring to doubtful or unlikely events (see the main article).

=== Conditional === {{main|Conditional mood}} The '''conditional mood''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''cond'''}}) is used to speak of an event whose realization is dependent upon another condition, particularly, but not exclusively, in [[conditional sentence]]s. In Modern English, it is a [[periphrasis|periphrastic construction]], with the form ''would'' + infinitive, e.g., ''I would buy''. In other languages, such as Spanish or French, verbs have a specific conditional [[inflection]]. This applies also to some verbs in German, in which the conditional mood is conventionally called {{lang|de|Konjunktiv II}}, differing from {{lang|de|Konjunktiv I}}. Thus, the conditional version of "John eats if he is hungry" is:

: English: ''John '''would eat''' if he were hungry'' : {{langx|de|Johannes '''äße''', wenn/falls er Hunger hätte}} :: or: {{lang|de|Johannes '''würde essen''', wenn er Hunger hätte}} : {{langx|fr|Jean '''mangerait''' s'il avait faim}} : {{langx|es|Juan '''comería''' si tuviera hambre}} : {{langx|pt|João '''comeria''' se tivesse fome}} : {{langx|it|Giovanni '''mangerebbe''' se avesse fame}} : {{langx|sv|Johan '''skulle''' äta, om han var hungrig}} : {{langx|da|Johan '''ville''' spise, hvis han var sulten}} : Norwegian {{langx|nb|Johan '''ville''' spise, hvis han var sulten}} : Norwegian {{langx|nn|Johan '''ville''' eta om han var svolten}} : {{langx|is|Jóhann '''myndi''' borða ef hann væri svangur}} : {{langx|nl|Johannes '''zou eten''' als hij honger had}} : {{langx|ga|'''D'íosfadh''' Seán rud dá mbeadh ocras air}} : {{langx|ga|जॉन '''खाता''' अगर भूख होती उसे|translit=jôn '''khātā''' agar bhūkh hotī use|label=[[Hindi]]}}

In the [[Romance languages]], the conditional form is used primarily in the [[Conditional sentence|apodosis]] (main clause) of conditional clauses, and in a few [[set phrase]]s where it expresses courtesy or doubt. The main verb in the [[Protasis (linguistics)|protasis]] (dependent clause) is either in the subjunctive or in the indicative mood. However, this is not a universal trait: among others, in German (as above) and in [[Finnish language|Finnish]] the conditional mood is used in both the apodosis and the protasis.

A further example of Finnish conditional<ref>{{cite book |last1=Karlsson |first1=Fred |title=Finnish: An Essential Grammar |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=9781315743233}}</ref> is the sentence "I would buy a house if I earned a lot of money", where in Finnish both clauses have the conditional marker {{lang|fi|-isi-}}: {{lang|fi|Osta'''isi'''n talon, jos ansaits'''isi'''n paljon rahaa}}, just like in [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]], which uses the marker {{lang|hu|-na/-ne/-ná/-né}}: {{lang|hu|Ven'''né'''k egy házat, ha sokat keres'''né'''k}}. In [[Polish language|Polish]], the conditional marker {{lang|pl|-by}} also appears twice: {{lang|pl|Kupił'''by'''m dom, gdy'''by'''m zarabiał dużo pieniędzy}}. Because English is used as a lingua franca, a similar kind of doubling of the word 'would' is a fairly common way to misuse an English language construction.

In French, while the standard language requires the indicative in the dependent clause, using the conditional mood in both clauses is used by some speakers: {{lang|fr|'''Si''' j{{'}}'''aurais''' su, je ne serais pas venu}} ("If I would have known, I wouldn't have come") instead of {{lang|fr|Si j{{'}}'''avais''' su, je ne serais pas venu}} ("If I had known, I wouldn't have come"). However, this usage is considered incorrect and heavily stigmatized. By contrast, {{lang|fr|'''J{{'}}aurais''' su, je ne serais pas venu}} is considered correct. In the literary language, past unreal conditional sentences as above may take the pluperfect subjunctive in one clause or both, so that the following sentences are all valid and have the same meaning as the preceding example: {{lang|fr|Si j{{'}}'''eusse''' su, je ne '''serais''' pas venu}}; {{lang|fr|Si j{{'}}'''avais''' su, je ne '''fusse''' pas venu}}; {{lang|fr|Si j{{'}}'''eusse''' su, je ne '''fusse''' pas venu}}.

=== Optative === {{main|Optative mood}} The '''optative mood''' expresses hopes, wishes or commands. Other uses may overlap with the subjunctive mood. Few languages have an optative as a distinct mood; some that do are [[Albanian language|Albanian]], [[Ancient Greek]], [[Sanskrit]], [[Finnish language|Finnish]], [[Avestan]] (it was also present in [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]], the ancestor of the aforementioned languages except for Finnish).

In Finnish, the mood may be called an "archaic" or "formal imperative", even if it has other uses; nevertheless, it at least expresses formality. For example, the ninth Article of the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] begins with:

{{interlinear|indent=2|lang=fi|abbreviations=PART:partitive |Älköön ketään pidätettäkö mielivaltaisesti |NEG.IMP.3SG anyone.PART arrest.IMP arbitrarily |"'''No''' one '''shall be arrested''' arbitrarily" ({{lit}} "'''Not''' anyone '''shall be arrested''' arbitrarily") }}

where {{lang|fi|älköön pidätettäkö}} "shall not be arrested" is the imperative of {{lang|fi|ei pidätetä}} "is not arrested". Also, using the conditional mood {{lang|fi|-isi-}} in conjunction with the clitic {{lang|fi|-pa}} yields an optative meaning: {{lang|fi|olisinpa}} "if only I were". Here, it is evident that the wish has not been fulfilled and probably will not be.

In Sanskrit, the optative is formed by adding the secondary endings to the verb stem. The optative, as other moods, is found in active voice and middle voice. Examples: {{lang|sa-Latn|bhares}} "may you bear" (active) and {{lang|sa-Latn|bharethaas}} "may you bear [for yourself]" (middle). The optative may not only express wishes, requests and commands, but also possibilities, e.g., {{lang|sa-Latn|kadaacid goshabdena budhyeta}} "he might perhaps wake up due to the bellowing of cows",<ref>Gonda, J., 1966. A concise elementary grammar of the Sanskrit language with exercises, reading selections, and a glossary. Leiden, E.J. Brill.</ref> doubt and uncertainty, e.g., {{lang|sa-Latn|katham vidyaam Nalam}} "how would I be able to recognize Nala?" The optative may further be used instead of a [[conditional mood]].

=== Jussive === {{main|Jussive mood}} The '''jussive mood''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''jus'''}}) expresses plea, insistence, imploring, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent, command, purpose or consequence. In some languages, this is distinguished from the cohortative mood in that the cohortative occurs in the first person and the jussive in the second or third. It is found in [[Arabic language|Arabic]], where it is called the '''{{lang|ar|مجزوم}}''' ({{lang|ar-Latn|majzūm}}), and also in [[Hebrew]] and in the constructed language [[Esperanto]]. The [[ʾIʿrab#Verbs|rules governing the jussive]] in Arabic are somewhat complex.

=== Potential === The '''potential mood''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''pot'''}}) is a mood of probability indicating that, in the opinion of the speaker, the action or occurrence is considered likely. It is used in many languages, including in [[Finnish language|Finnish]],<ref>Clemens Niemi, ''A Finnish Grammar'' (1917), p. 27.</ref> [[Japanese language|Japanese]],<ref>Tatui Baba, ''An Elementary Grammar of the Japanese Language'' (1888), p. 18.</ref> and [[Sanskrit]] (as well as its ancestor [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]),<ref>Ratnakar Narale, ''Sanskrit for English Speaking People'' (2004), p. 332.</ref> and in the [[Sami languages]]. (In Japanese it is often called something like '''tentative,''' since '''potential''' is used to refer to a [[grammatical voice|voice]] indicating capability to perform the action.{{cn|date=July 2025}})

In Finnish, it is mostly a literary device, as it has virtually disappeared from daily spoken language in most dialects. Its suffix is {{lang|fi|-ne-}}, as in *''men'' + ''ne'' + ''e'' → {{lang|fi|mennee}} "(s/he/it) will probably go". Some kinds of consonant clusters simplify to [[gemination|geminates]]. In spoken language, the word {{lang|fi|kai}} "probably" is used instead, e.g., {{lang|fi|se kai tulee}} "he probably comes", instead of {{lang|fi|hän tullee}}.

=== Imperative === {{main|Imperative mood}}

The '''imperative mood''' expresses direct commands, requests, and prohibitions. In many circumstances, using the imperative mood may sound blunt or even rude, so it is often used with care. Example: "Paul, do your homework now". An imperative is used to tell someone to do something without argument.

Many languages, including English, use the bare verb stem to form the imperative (such as "go", "run", "do"). Other languages, such as [[Seri language|Seri]] and [[Latin]], however, use special imperative forms.

In English, second person is implied by the imperative except when first-person plural is specified, as in "Let's go" ("Let us go").

The prohibitive mood, the negative imperative may be grammatically or morphologically different from the imperative mood in some languages. It indicates that the action of the verb is not permitted, e.g., "Do not go!" (archaically, "Go not!"). In Portuguese and Spanish, for example, the forms of the imperative are only used for the imperative itself, e.g., "{{lang|pt|'''vai''' embora!}}" "{{lang|es|¡'''vete'''!}}" ("leave!"), whereas the subjunctive is used to form negative commands, e.g., "{{lang|pt|'''não vás''' embora!}}" "{{lang|es|¡'''no''' te '''vayas'''!}}" ("don't leave!").

In English, the imperative is sometimes used to form a [[conditional sentence]]: e.g., "Go eastward a mile, and you will see it" means "If you go eastward a mile, you will see it".

=== Desiderative === {{main|Desiderative mood}} Whereas the optative expresses hopes, the '''desiderative mood''' expresses wishes and desires. Desires are what we want to be the case; hope generally implies optimism toward the chances of a desire's fulfillment. If someone desires something but is pessimistic about its chances of occurring, then one desires it but does not hope for it. Few languages have a distinct desiderative mood; three that do are [[Sanskrit]], [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]].

In Japanese the verb inflection {{lang|ja-Latn|-tai}} expresses the speaker's desire, e.g., {{lang|ja-Latn|watashi wa asoko ni ikitai}} "I want to go there". This form is treated as a pseudo-adjective: the auxiliary verb {{lang|ja-Latn|garu}} is used by dropping the end {{lang|ja-Latn|-i}} of an adjective to indicate the outward appearance of another's mental state, in this case the desire of a person other than the speaker (e.g. {{lang|ja-Latn|Jon wa tabetagatte imasu}} "John appears to want to eat").

In Sanskrit, the infix {{lang|sa-Latn|-sa-}}, sometimes {{lang|sa-Latn|-isa-}}, is added to the reduplicated root, e.g. {{lang|sa-Latn|jíjīviṣati}} "he wants to live" instead of {{lang|sa-Latn|jī́vati}} "he lives".<ref>Van Der Geer, AAE. 1995. ''Samskrtabhasa B1, cursus Sanskrit voor beginners'' and ''Samskrtabhasa B2, cursus Sanskrit voor gevorderden''. Leiden: Talen Instituut Console</ref> The desiderative in Sanskrit may also be used as imminent: {{lang|sa-Latn|mumūrṣati}} "he is about to die". The Sanskrit desiderative continues Proto-Indo-European {{lang|ine-x-proto|-(h₁)se-}}.

=== Dubitative === {{main|Dubitative mood}} The '''dubitative mood''' is used in [[Ojibwe language|Ojibwe]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], Bulgarian and other languages. It expresses the speaker's doubt or uncertainty about the event denoted by the verb. For example, in Ojibwe, {{lang|oj|Baawitigong igo ayaa noongom}} translates as "he is in [[Baawitigong]] today." When the dubitative suffix {{lang|oj|-dog}} is added, this becomes {{lang|oj|Baawitigong igo ayaa'''dog''' noongom}}, "I guess he must be in Baawitigong."<ref>{{cite web |title=Native Languages: Obibwe-Cree – The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1 to 12 |access-date=2018-03-13 |url=http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/curricul/ojibwe.pdf}}</ref>

=== Presumptive === The '''presumptive mood''' is used in [[Romanian language|Romanian]] and [[Hindi]] to express presupposition or hypothesis, regardless of the fact denoted by the verb, as well as other more or less similar attitudes: doubt, curiosity, concern, condition, indifference, inevitability. Often, for a sentence in presumptive mood, no exact translation can be constructed in English which conveys the same nuance.

The [[Romanian language|Romanian]] sentence, {{lang|ro|acolo s-o fi dus}} "he must have gone there" shows the basic presupposition use, while the following excerpt from a poem by [[Eminescu]] shows the use both in a conditional clause {{lang|ro|de-o fi}} "suppose it is" and in a main clause showing an attitude of submission to fate {{lang|ro|le-om duce}} "we would bear".

:{{lang|ro|De-o fi una, de-o fi alta... Ce e scris și pentru noi,}} :{{lang|ro|Bucuroși le-om duce toate, de e pace, de-i război.}}

:Be it one, be it the other... Whatever fate we have, :We will gladly go through all, be it peace or be it war

In [[Hindi]], the presumptive mood can be used in all the three tenses. The same structure for a particular [[grammatical aspect]] can be used to refer to the present, past and future times depending on the context.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-04-20 |title=Presumptive Mood |website=hindilanguage.info |language=en-US |url=https://hindilanguage.info/hindi-grammar/verbs/mood/presumptive-mood/ |access-date=2020-07-01}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sharma |first=Ghanshyam |title=A Pragmatic Account of the Hindi Presumptive |date=2008-01-01 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699611}}</ref> The table below shows the conjugations for the presumptive mood copula in Hindi and Romanian with some exemplar usage on the right:

{| class="wikitable" |+Presumptive Mood Conjugations ! colspan="2" rowspan="2" |Person ! colspan="3" |Singular ! colspan="3" |Plural |- !1st !2nd !3rd !1st !2nd !3rd |- ! colspan="2" |[[Romanian language|Romanian]] | colspan="2" |{{lang|ro|oi}} |{{lang|ro|o}} |{{lang|ro|om}} |{{lang|ro|oți}} |{{lang|ro|or}} |- ! rowspan="2" |[[Hindi]] !♂ |{{lang|hi|hūṁgā}} | colspan="2" |{{lang|hi|hogā}} |{{lang|hi|hoṁgē}} |{{lang|hi|hogē}} |{{lang|hi|hoṁgē}} |- !♀ |{{lang|hi|hūṁgī}} | colspan="2" |{{lang|hi|hogī}} |{{lang|hi|hoṁgī}} |{{lang|hi|hogī}} |{{lang|hi|hoṁgī}} |}

{| class="wikitable" ! ! colspan="2" |Tense !Sentence !Translation |- ! rowspan="3" |[[Romanian language|Romanian]] ! colspan="2" |Present |{{lang|ro|tu oi face}} |You might do. |- ! colspan="2" |Past |{{lang|ro|tu oi fi făcut}} |You must/might have done. |- ! colspan="2" |Progressive |{{lang|ro|tu oi fi făcând}} |You must/might be doing. |- ! !Aspect !Tense !Sentence !Translation |- ! rowspan="8" |[[Hindi]] ! rowspan="2" |Habitual !Present |{{lang|hi|tū kartā hoga abhī}} |You must/might be doing it now. |- !Past |{{lang|hi|tū kartā hogā pêhlē.}} |You must/might have done it before (habitually in the past). |- ! rowspan="2" |Perfective !Present |{{lang|hi|tūnē kiyā hogā abhī.}} |You must/might have done now. |- !Past |{{lang|hi|tūnē kiyā hogā pêhlē.}} |You must/might have done it before (in the past). |- ! rowspan="3" |Progressive !Present |{{lang|hi|tū kar rahā hogā abhī}} |You must/might be doing it now. |- !Past |{{lang|hi|tū kar rahā hogā do din pêhlē}} |You must/might have been doing it two days ago. |- !Future |{{lang|hi|tū kar rahā hogā do din bād}} |You must/might be doing it two days from now. |}

'''Note:''' # The translations are just the closest possible English approximations and not exact. # Only masculine conjugations are shown for Hindi.

=== Hortative === {{main|Hortative}} The '''hortative''' or '''hortatory mood''' is used to express plea, insistence, imploring, self-encouragement, wish, desire, intent, command, purpose or consequence. It does not exist in English, but phrases such as "let us" are often used to denote it. In Latin, it is interchangeable with the jussive.

=== Inferential === {{main|Inferential mood}}

The '''inferential mood''' ([[list of glossing abbreviations|abbreviated]] {{sc|'''infer'''}} or {{sc|'''infr'''}}) is used to report a nonwitnessed event without confirming it, but the same forms also function as admiratives in the [[Balkan]] languages in which they occur. The '''inferential mood''' is used in some languages such as [[Turkish language|Turkish]] to convey information about events that were not directly observed or were inferred by the speaker. When referring to [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] and other Balkan languages, it is often called '''renarrative mood'''; when referring to [[Estonian language|Estonian]], it is called '''oblique mood'''. The inferential is usually impossible to distinguish when translated into English. For instance, indicative Bulgarian {{lang|bg|той отиде}} ({{lang|bg-Latn|toy otide}}) and Turkish {{lang|tr|o gitti}} translates the same as inferential {{lang|bg|той отишъл}} ({{lang|bg-Latn|toy otishal}}) and {{lang|tr|o gitmiş}} — with the English indicative ''he went''.'''<ref>For a more precise rendering, it would be possible to also translate these as "he reportedly went" or "he is said to have gone" (or even "apparently, he went") although, clearly, these long constructions would be impractical in an entire text composed in this tense.</ref>''' Using the first pair, however, implies very strongly that the speaker either witnessed the event or is very sure that it took place. The second pair implies either that the speaker did not in fact witness it taking place, that it occurred in the remote past, or that there is considerable doubt as to whether it actually happened. If it were necessary to make the distinction, then the English constructions "he must have gone" or "he is said to have gone" would partly translate the inferential.

== References == {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{cite book |editor1-first=Rodney D. |editor1-last=Huddleston |editor1-link=Rodney Huddleston |editor2-first=Geoffrey K. |editor2-last=Pullum |editor2-link=Geoffrey K. Pullum |year=2002 |title=[[The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language|The Cambridge grammar of the English language]] |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0-521-43146-8 }}

== External links == {{wikt|irrealis}} * [http://www.bcbsr.com/greek/gmood.html Greek moods] * [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231901310_Mood_and_modality_Out_of_theory_and_into_the_fray Mood and modality: Out of theory and into the fray]

[[Category:Grammatical moods]]