por What are the verb modes?
We use the verbal modes to express the attitude of the speaker with respect to the verbal action. In other words, through the verbal modes we can know if it is an action, an order or a desire. In Spanish, there are three verb modes: indicative, subjunctive and imperative.
The verb modes manifest through the verbal tenses said attitude of the speaker, since the verbs change their inflection (that is, their ending) to indicate it, as well as change to indicate time, person and number.
The following sentences are different: “tomorrow we will send the first Mexican astronaut to the moon”, “good luck to you”, “get up at sunrise”. The first sentence expresses an action that will be carried out at a certain time, in this case, future (indicative); the second sentence expresses an action that is not known when it will happen or if it will happen, that is, it expresses possibility or desire (subjunctive), and the third expresses an order (imperative).
Each of the modes contemplates different tenses, so the verbs will be conjugated in characteristic ways.
In this sense, the verb modes indicate morphological changes, which have to do with the inflectional morphemes indicating time, number and person; they also indicate syntactic changes, because they will have to agree with other grammatical categories of the sentence (subject, for example), and they indicate semantic changes, since the verb conjugated in one way or another will mean something different.
Verb modes and tenses are what are called in grammar verbal grammatical accidents. Let’s see in more detail what each one consists of and the attitudes that are expressed with them.
1. Indicative mode
The indicative mode is the one that indicates that what is expressed are real actions, that they are taken for granted and that they take place in a specific time. Sometimes the indicative mode is said to be the one that describes the real world, and the one used to affirm.
Example: Luisa loves music and plays the cello.
In this sentence we say that Luisa does something concrete (play the cello) because she feels something concrete (she loves music).
Callsign tenses
In the indicative mood, the verbs are conjugated in five simple tenses and five compound tenses.
simple times:
Present (I want)
Past perfect (I wanted)
Imperfect past tense (I wanted)
Future (I will)
Simple conditional (I would like to)
compound times:
Present Perfect Compound (I have wanted)
Pluperfect past tense (I had wanted)
past tense (I had wanted)
Future perfect (I will have wanted)
Conditional perfect (I would have wanted)
Before, the RAE classified verb modes into 5 (infinitive, indicative, subjunctive, conditional and imperative), but since 1973 it rearranged this classification and from that moment the verb modes remained in the current three. The conditional became part of the indicative.
Present indicative forms
The present indicative has several present forms:
Simple present: the action happens at the moment in which the speaker enunciates it, “I drink water”.
present imperative: is the one used in orders, «you eat the whole meal».
timeless present: It is when an action called absolute is expressed in which no time limits are indicated, “we always celebrate our anniversary”.
habitual present: is where a custom is expressed, “every morning I get up at 6 in the morning and I go swimming”.
present future: this tense expresses an action that will happen with certainty in the near future, “tomorrow I will send you the money”.
historical present: a past action is expressed in historical texts, “Pancho Villa dies in an ambush in Hidalgo del Parral in 1923”.
Examples of the indicative mood
The teacher finished reviewing the exams and was finally able to rest.
We ran to take shelter from the rain, when the storm began.
Barça sold Leo Messi to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Afghan population, especially women, fear reprisals from the Taliban.
The boy gets up religiously at 5 in the morning and goes for a run, no matter if it’s raining, snowing or cold.
When I have time, I like to read a good novel.
Dark times are coming for the history of humanity.
Did you think everything was fine? Well you were wrong!
We will play tomorrow against the local team, that will become a classic.
2. Subjunctive mood
It is the verbal mode in which wishes, possibilities or hypothetical actions are expressed.
«If we all thought alike, the world would be very boring.»
As you can see, the verb «we thought» indicates an action that has not yet been carried out, it is a hypothetical reality expressed by the speaker.
Subjunctive tenses
The subjunctive is conjugated in the following tenses:
simple times:
Present (that I want)
Imperfect past tense (that I wanted)
Simple future (that I would like)
compound times:
Past perfect (that I wanted)
Pluperfect past tense (that I would have/would have wanted)
Composite future (that I would have wanted)
Examples of the subjunctive mood
Don’t let me see you with your cell phone again.
When you come don’t call me.
He would have wanted to come back at five, but he couldn’t.
The fact that the girls passed through that lonely street played a role in their being robbed.
We all hope the president does the right thing.
I would like to know when you will return.
He would have liked to go to the concert.
Even if I study, it is already too late to pass the subject.
Just because I think so doesn’t mean it’s the only right thing to do.
3. Imperative mood
The imperative mood expresses orders, warnings, prohibitions, threats, but also requests. In Spanish, the imperative is only conjugated in the second person, singular or plural, and for this reason it is said to be a defective mood, since it does not present verbal inflections for all grammatical persons.
Likewise, there is the affirmative imperative and the negative imperative.
«Read the whole page, from the beginning.»
«Don’t sit there.»
«I don’t want any more fights.»
«Tidy the room.»
Examples of the imperative mood
Please don’t sing anymore.
Wash your hands before sitting at the table.
Delete everything you have written.
Come right away!
Sit there, please, and wait your turn.
Don’t think about it anymore, it hurts you.
Get to study at once, don’t waste so much time.
Don’t make so much noise, you’ll wake everyone up.
You must pass the exam, otherwise you will not graduate.
References
González Calvo, JM (1995). On the verbal mood in Spanish. Taken from dialnet.unirioja.es.
Vásquez González, JA (2013). Verbal modes of current Spanish. Taken from scielo.org.co.
The three verbal modes (2020). Taken from firsthandspanish.com.
Verb modes and tenses in Spanish (2021). Taken from esfacil.eu.