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Re: future past

From:Garth Wallace <gwalla@...>
Date:Wednesday, June 16, 2004, 3:23
Trebor Jung wrote:
> Ray wrote: "Yep - by using the modal verbs 'shall' & 'will'. English > strictly has no future tense; it uses different moods." > > So what should it be called? Futuritive mood?
AIUI it's a volitive. Or it was. Nowadays "will" isn't really modal even though it acts like a modal verb. The past tense ("would"), however, still has a volitive meaning.