Re: ideas and questions

On Thu, Mar 04, 2004 at 09:19:22PM -0500, Etak wrote:
> Actually, I think part of my problem is that I am getting mood and
> aspect mixed up.  Could someone please explain them?
I'll take a shot, 'cause I like to explain stuff, and I think I
understand this, and if I screw it up, there are plenty of folk on here
who are smarter than me and will correct my errors. :)

Mood essentially describes the purpose of the sentence containing the
verb.  Aspect tells you whether the action is/was/will be completed or
in progress at whatever point in time is indicated by the tense.  Both
are independent of tense.

If the verb is in the indicative mood, the sentence is making a
statement (or asking a question whose answer is a statement):

        - You ARE late.
        - Sorry, traffic WAS terrible.
        - Well, we HAVE to hurry or we WILL MISS the start of the show.

If the verb is in the imperative mood, the sentence is issuing a
command.

        - DOn't be late!

If the verb is in the subjunctive mood, the sentence is talking about
something that is (or may become) contrary to reality.

        - If I WERE you, . . .  (but I'm not)
        - Though he ARRIVE on time, . . .  (but he might not)

If the verb is in the conditional mood, the sentence is  making a
statement, like in the indicative, but the statement is predicated on an
assumption which may or may not be true.  The assumption is often in the
subjunctive.

        - If I were a rich man, all day long I WOULD DIDDY-DIDDY-DUM.
        - Ouch, bad move!  I WOULDn't HAVE done that (if I had been in
          your situation).

If the verb is in the infinitive mood, then it's not really acting as a
verb at all, but more like a noun, representing the abstract idea of the action
normally represented by the verb.

        - I really wanted TO GO with her.

Aspect is orthogonal to mood, but aspect distinctions most commonly show
up in the indicative, subjunctive, and conditional.  Aspect tells you
whether the action is ongoing or completed or indeterminate at the point
of discussion.

Verbs in the "perfect" aspect indicate that the action was completed
at the time under discussion:

        - I woke up to find that I HAD OVERSLEPT.
        - I HAVE CALLED him twice already.
        - By the end of the week I WILL HAVE LEFT 5 messages on his
          voicemail.

Verbs in the "imperfect" or "progressive" aspect indicate that the
action was in progress:

        - While you WERE OVERSLEEPING, I was making breakfast.
        - I AM CALLING him right now.
        - Saturday morning I WILL BE FISHING.

In English, the simple tenses are indeterminate as far as aspect goes;
if you want to be explicit, you have to use one of the perfect or
progressive forms.   Other languages have no indeterminate aspect and
force you to pick an explicit one.

Also, in many languages the same form of the verb (the imperfect) is
used to refer to ongoing action, like the progressive above, and
habitual action, as in "I USED TO OVERSLEEP every day."


-Mark

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