Mr Culling's verb moods

A verb’s mood shows us the ​ (a)   of the speaker or ​ (b)   . How is the speaker or writer ​ (c)   themselves with the ​ (d)   they are trying to communicate? Having a grasp of moods will help you to use the correct verb ​ (e)   .

• attitude
• writer
• positioning
• meaning
• forms

What is a verb mood?

• It shows us the attitude of the speaker or writer.

• It reveals the tense of the verb.

• It creates different meanings depending on the verb form.

• None of these.

What do we call a verb mood that projects uncertainty?

Answer explanation

Answer: Subjunctive

I express an assertion, facts, or opinions. I present the “normal” verb form. What mood am I?

• Imperative

• Subjunctive

• Infinitive

• Indicative

Answer explanation

The way I remember the indicative form is that it simply "indicates" the actions of the subject.

I am a verbal adjective, but I don't just describe nouns. I can describe other verbs too... What am I?

Answer explanation

Participles are very useful describing tools because of how flexible they are.

In terms of how moods function in English, imagine the participle form of a verb vs its imperative form. Now imagine the facial expression you would use to express each verb form. See why we refer to these forms as "moods"?

I often confuse people because I look like a participle. I'm a verb, but I behave like a noun. You'll recognise me when you see me as the subject or object of a sentence. What mood am I?

Answer explanation

Answer:

gerund

I can easily get confused with the indicative. I am the most basic verb form (like, dictionary form basic). I'm so basic in fact, that I can not function like a normal verb. I can't be conjugated, and I need another word to help me stand up. What mood am I?

Answer explanation

Answer:

Infinitive

Usually, the infinitive is accompanied by the word "to". I like "to eat". I like "to sleep".

I express a sense of wish or desire. I'm like the subjunctive, but I've spent the day at the gym. What mood am I?

Answer explanation

Answer:

optative

Whereas the subjunctive case would use the words "might" or "could" to modify the main verb, the optative uses the words "wish" or "want". This is why we say that an optative is just an intense version of the subjunctive.

Write a sentence in the subjunctive case.

Answer explanation

Example:

I might do my homework.

"Might" is the auxiliary that tells me that the verb is in the subjunctive case. The verb itself is "do". Grammatically, "might" gives "do" a mood or attitude (or facial expression - if it helps to think of it that way).

Write a sentence in the optative case.

Answer explanation

Example:

I wish I could do my homework.

I want to do my homework.

This is a complicated form. You can't just say "I wish do my homework". I need to add other auxiliaries. There is no specific rule on how to structure this. This is one of those things you just need to know on a case by case basis.