Mode is the manner in which the action, the being, or the state is asserted. Mode does not show the manner of the action or state, but the manner of its assertion.
The action or state may be asserted:

• as something that may, can, or must take place.
• as something imagined or supposed which is placed under a condition.
• as something desired.

In written English, the mode or manner of the action or state is expressed by means of limiting words.

For example

The soldier fought (a reality) bravely (manner of the act).
The soldier may fight (something imagined) bravely (manner of the supposed act).

The infinitive is not properly a mode of the verb. Since it does not assert action at all, it cannot be said to have any manner or mode of assertion.
The same may be said of the participle. In fact, the infinitive is a participle, partaking of the properties of the noun and the verb, as the participle partakes of the properties of the adjective and the verb.
There are five modes:

• in­dicative
• potential
• subjunctive
• imparative
• infinitive

The indicative mode is the most common mode. It asserts a thing as actually existing.

For example

James plays baseball.
William was struck.
Has he come?

The potential mode asserts the power, liberty, per­mission, necessity, or duty of acting, or of being in a certain state.

For example

We can sing.
You may write.
Must he read?
They should obey the law.
Will you do it?

The subjunctive mode asserts a thing as conditional or as doubtful.

For example

if he leave me
though he betray me

The imperative mode asserts a command, an en­treaty, or a permission.

For example

Write.
Go thou.
Be admonished.

The infinitive represents the action or state as an abstract noun.

For example

to write
to be seen

The Indicative Mode

The indicative mode is used in principal propositions and is employed to represent what is actual, real, or absolute. It may be used in interrogative or exclamatory sentences.

For example

Has he arrived?
The villain has burned the dwelling!

The indicative mode is often used in subordinate clauses, but it always represents what is.

For example

I know that he discovered (actually) the plot.

The Potential Mode

The potential mode is also used in principal clauses however, a verb in the potential mode does not represent the actual. A verb in the potential mode represents that which exists or is supposed to exist only as an idea.

The potential mode is used for those things that are merely imagined or thought of.

For example

A storm may arise. (Actually there is no storm.)
Can he write?
How can you persist?

The ideal act or state of the potential mode, however, is supposed to have some relation to reality. The act or state indicated by the verb can become a reality. There is no impossibility in the way of its realization; no ability is wanting, and it may become a reality. This mode may be used in interrogative, exclamatory, or strong supplicate sentences.

For example

Can he leave the city in safety?
He may be assassinated.
May the truth be victorious!

The potential mode may be used in subordinate clauses, but always to represent what is ideal or what has not been realized.

For example

He says that I may (I do not now) attend school.

The potential mode may be known by the auxiliaries may, can, must, might, could, would, and should.

The Subjunctive Mode

The subjunctive mode is used exclusively in subordinate clauses, and hence its name, sub meaning under, and junco meaning I join. A subordinate clause is joined to the verb of the principal proposition by a subordi­nate conjunction. Subordinate conjunctions include including:

• though
• although
• lest
• except that
• save that
• unless
• provided that

These subordinate conjunctions impart the idea of doubt, contingency, or conditionality. Whatever of futurity may be implied in the subjunctive is to be accounted for either from the fact that any thing that is conditional or contingent is yet to be realized, or from the influence of a suppressed auxiliary, such as shall or should, which suggests the idea of an event in the future.

For example

Though he (should) slay me, yet will I trust in him.

The subjunctive mode represents an ideal act, or a real act con­ceived only as an idea and places it under a condition accompanied with more or less doubt. The subjunc­tive does not have a distinct form in modern
written English except, possibly, in the most formal use of the present tense and the present and past of the verb to be.

In such cases, with the single exception of were, in sentences like:

• If it were…
• If I were…

the subjunctive mode uses the forms of the indicative future or the past potential.

For example

At present, the majority of writers employ the forms of the indicative present. Hence the subjunctive may be regarded as borrowing its forms from the indicative and the potential mode. The subjunctive mode is passing out of use and there is good reason to suppose that it will soon become obsolete altogether.

The Imperative Mode

The imperative mode is used in principal propositions. The imperative mode expresses will or desire. This mode is usually written with the understood subject, you, omitted.

For example

Read these books.
Write every day.

The force of the imperative mode depends upon the relation of the parties.

• If a superior speaks imperatively to an inferior, it is a command.
• If an equal to an equal, it is an exhortation or an entreaty.
• If an inferior to a superior, it is a prayer or a supplication.

The imperative mode is made subordi­nate only in a direct quotation.

For example

God said, “Let there be light.”

The imperative mode may be elegantly put for a conditional clause.

For example

Let but the commons hear this testament–
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read–
And they would go and kiss dead Caesar’s wounds
                    Shakespeare

The Infinitive Mode and Participles

The infinitive is used in abridged propositions, and hence is wholly dependent, being incorporated as an element of another proposition. The infinitive does not assert any thing. It is not limited by the number and the person of a subject, and hence its name, the in­finitive. Infinitive suggests unlimited in contrast with finite, which is applied to all verbs used in construction with a subject. Finite verbs are limited by the number and person of their subjects.

The infinitive is used as an abstract noun. It also may be associated with the subject from which it has been abstracted.

For example

The soldier faints (finite).
for the soldier to faint (infinitive)
He goes.
for him to go
We told Anne, “Go.”
We told Anne to go.

At this point proceed to Exercise 20.