Indicative Mood: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know what an indicative mood is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on indicative moods, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What is the indicative mood?

According to Walden, there are many different forms of verbs in the English language, some of which are regular verbs and some are irregular verbs. 

  •   Simple conditional tense
  •   Past perfect tense
  •   Indicative tense
  •   Bare infinitive tense
  •   Present continuous tense
  •   Conditional tense
  •   Present perfect progressive tense 
  •   Conditional perfect tense
  •   Present perfect progressive/continuous tense
  •   To-infinitive tense
  •   Present participle tense
  •   Past participle tense
  •   Present perfect tense
  •   Past progressive/continuous tense
  •   Present indicative tense
  •   Present perfect continuous tense
  •   Future perfect progressive tense
  •   Past progressive tense
  •   Simple present tense
  •   Future perfect tense
  •   Imperative tense
  •   Future progressive tense
  •   Simple past tense
  •   Perfect passive tense
  •   Conditional perfect progressive tense
  •   Past perfect progressive tense
  •   Infinitive tense
  •   Present progressive tense
  •   Conditional progressive tense
  •   Gerund tense or gerund phrase 
  •   Simple future tense
  •   Subjunctive tense

Today we will explore the indicative mood. Per Grammar Monster, the indicative mood is a verb form that makes a statement or asks a question.Unlike the subjunctive mood, imperative mood, or an interrogative sentence/interrogative mood, in the indicative mood, the main verb makes a statement of fact or asks a question. While other verb tenses or mood verbs express orders or direct commands, this can form a declarative sentence or indicative sentence. The past indicative, present indicative, and future indicative can all be used in first person, second person, or third person singular and plural. It can also make a positive or negative sentence. Having the ability to express facts is not only useful in English moods, but in languages like Spanish as well, known as el indicativo, whereas a subjunctive verb would be el subjunctivo.

Many different languages also contain words that mean indicative mood. You may notice that some of these translations of indicative mood look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases in different languages that likely have the same root or language of origin, causing them to sound the same. The below list of translations of indicative mood is provided by Word Sense

  •  Finnish: indikatiivi‎, tositapa‎
  •  Albanian: mënyra dëftore‎ (fem.)
  •  Greek: οριστική‎ (fem.)
  •  Russian: изъяви́тельное наклоне́ние‎ (neut.)
  •  Southern Altai: јарталган‎ (cartalgan)
  •  French: indicatif‎ (masc.)
  •  Arabic: مَرْفُوع‎ (masc.)
  •  Turkish: bildirme kipi‎
  •  Icelandic: framsöguháttur‎ (masc.)
  •  German: Indikativ‎ (masc.)
  •  Dutch: aantonende wijs‎ (masc.), indicatief‎ (masc.)
  •  Czech: oznamovací způsob‎ (masc.)
  •  Italian: indicativo‎ (masc.)
  •  Greenlandic: oqaluinnamiut‎
  •  Uyghur: بايان رايى‎
  •  Japanese: 直説法‎ (ちょくせつほう, chokusetsu-hō), 直接法‎ (ちょくせつほう, chokusetsu-hō)
  •  Tagalog: panaganong paturol‎
  •  Polish: tryb oznajmujący‎ (masc.)
  •  Lithuanian: tiesioginė nuosaka‎
  •  Romanian: mod indicativ‎, indicativ‎ (neut.)
  •  Macedonian: исказен начин‎
  •  Portuguese: modo indicativo‎
  •  Mandarin: 直陳語氣‎, 直陈语气‎ (zhíchén-yǔqì)
  •  Breton: doare-disklêriañ‎ (masc.)
  •  Hungarian: kijelentő mód‎

What are examples of indicative mood?

The indicative mood can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of indicative mood from Learn Grammar that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use.  Take a look at these indicative mood examples from and see how many you understand! 

  •  I performed in the musical drama.
  •  Merry did not do this task.
  •  Everyone appreciated my performance.
  •  I will sing songs in the program.
  •  The movie was excellent.
  •  Alex will not come to the meeting.
  •  I am writing a poem.
  •  Alana does not know him.
  •  Bob is not interested in watching the movie.
  •  The aliens will be unable to breathe our air.
  •  I have a class at nine, ballet at noon, and a date at six. 
  •  Is she driving the car?
  •  I am majoring in English Literature.
  •  She is driving the car.
  •  The sky is clear tonight.
  •  She stopped during the third lap.
  •  Tomorrow I work all day from eight o’clock in the morning until six in the evening.
  •  Is that a whelk?
  •  That was tasty. Did you like it?
  •  I love to listen to melodious songs.
  •  How was work today? Are you enjoying working at your new job? Are your superiors kind to you?
  •  I will show you how to do the task.
  •  I am teaching him how to drive.
  •  I am excited to go to the movies with you later.
  •  Halloween is my favorite holiday, and Christmas is a close second. 
  •  Albert is preparing the assignment.
  •  Lisa is designing the poster.
  •  Andrew is sure about this matter.
  •  Peter is very excited to see you.
  •  Dana will not be able to cook the meal today.
  •  Work was difficult today.
  •  Aric will attend the program.
  •  I am going to discuss it.
  •  I am ready to go to the concert.
  •  Adam is not perfect for this job.
  •  The linguists gave the student encouragement for her exam.
  •  I wrote my paper on the topic of gender in America.
  •  We are going to the airport to go to New York because I was featured in the New York Times for winning the lottery. 
  •  Americans receive high wages in comparison to other places in the world. 

Overall, the indicative mood is a grammatical mood that uses auxiliary verbs, action verbs, and helping verbs to express key points of fact statements, such as the obvious qualities of a person, express opinions, express statements of fact, polite requests, past action, instructions, and more in English grammar. Along with imperative sentences, this mood of the verb is one of the main moods.

Sources:

  1. Glossary of grammatical terms | OED
  2. Examples of The Indicative Mood | Learn English
  3. indicative mood: meaning, translation | Word Sense  
  4. Verb Forms: “-ing,” Infinitives, and Past Participles – Grammar – Academic Guides | Walden University  
  5. Indicative Mood | What Is the Indicative Mood? | Grammar Monster