Verb Mood Examples

Let's review. A verb expresses an action or state of being in the sentence.

You already know that a verb's tense refers to when the action occurs.

The mood of a verb refers to manner or attitude in which the action is expressed. Verbs-the actions or states of being they express-can be stated as facts, wishes, possibilities, or commands.

The English language has three verb moods:

1) Indicative Mood-expresses fact, opinion, assertion, question; this is the mood for most of our verbs.

2) Imperative Mood-expresses a command; imperative sentences are written in the imperative mood-remember that the subject is often an understood "you".

3) Subjunctive Mood-expresses a wish for something to be true, or expresses something that is contrary to what actually is

Examples of sentences with verbs having indicative mood:

1) I want a chocolate ice cream cone.

2) Atlanta is the capital of Georgia.

3) Coconut tastes funny.

4) Are you going to the party?

Examples of sentences with verbs having imperative mood:

1) Clean your room, now.

2) Martha, put your paper in the box.

3) Show your work on the math test.

Examples of sentences with verbs having subjunctive mood:

1) If only I were at the beach right now.

2) I wish you had brought your new bike.

3) If I were you, I would be excited about the play.