Indicative mood

Indicative mood or Realis (abbreviated as REAL or IND) is the grammatical mood that is used to indicate facts. Most articles about grammar touch only this mood. It is formed without special markers of mood. But all other possible suffixes, prefixes and clitics may be added to indicate other grammatical forms.

Strictly speaking the term “Indicative mood” may be applied only to:

• Objects, events or states of being which speaker have witnessed (Past tense): “I saw a giant!” ⇒ “Dakinuz ash nûrs!”
• objects being observed (or feeling through other senses) right now (Present tense): “I'm watching you” ⇒ “Dahonam”
• or for general truths: “Sun rises in the East” ⇒ “Ûzh tulgâ ghânshor”

and future tense cannot be Realis (even sentences like “Sun will rise tomorrow in the East”). Usage of modal verbs also indicate some Irrealis mood, even when they have default form of present tense. Anyway in many languages including Nûrlâm, the grammatical form of indicative mood is often used to express other moods.

The following moods are considered Realis, but not Indicative.

• Future tense applied to general truths: “Sun will rise tomorrow in the East” ⇒ “Ûzh tulgubâ ârshab ghânshor”
• Future tense applied to repeatable/habitual actions: “He will go to work next morning” ⇒ “Ta ukhub bulumu shi ânshab”
• Mirative mood, when action is real, but speaker was surprised (“Wow, it speaks!” ⇒ “Za gashn”, “It's alive!” ⇒ “Za kîb”, “It worked!” ⇒ “Za buluz”). May carry tone of irony.
• Oblique or Inferential mood:
  • when speaker is absolutely sure in what he says, but event cannot be confirmed (any tense); expressions like (“I'm sure”, “certainly”) may be added: “I'm sure, he already reached Mordor” ⇒ “Dakul rûz, tabarluz Uzgbûrz dok”
  • when event is real, but speaker didn't witnessed it personally (e.g only through news or other's speech), includes indirect speech: “I was told that he reached Mordor” ⇒ “Gashnuzû dazûr zamash tabarluz Uzgbûrz”;

The following moods are Irrealis, but the grammatical form of Indicative mood is used to express them:

• Dynamic modality, expressed by future tense (“I will sing” ⇒ “Dalashub”) or modal verb “can” in any tense (“I could sing (in the past)” ⇒ “Dapâshuz lashut”)
• Comissive mood, used for promises, vows and threats: “I will find the ring” ⇒ “Dagimbub nazgum”;
• Some cases of Jussive and Necessitative moods may be expressed by Gerundives: “The Great Eye demands you to bring the ring” ⇒ “Bhahontum khûlâ fizûr thrakat nazgum”.
• Desiderative mood sometimes may be expressed by verbs (hope = khard), (fear = furg), (dream = taur), usually with main verb in future tense, but may be in any: “I fear they have lost the way” ⇒ “Dafurg takbûfuz mongum”.
• Potential mood uses any tense of Indicative, but adds some words expressing doubt (probably, possible): “Probably, the hobbit will find the way to the Lonely Mountain” ⇒ “Falgarz, za piraga gimbubâ mongum Ashûk Urunu”.
• Subjunctive mood may be replaced with Gerundive after some impersonal expressions: “It's possible that ring could be lost again” ⇒ “Falgarz, nazgum kulâ bûfat nokhar” = lit. “Possibly, the ring is (going) to be lost again”
• In various conditional complex sentences:
  • factual/habitual – present tense for both condition and main part: “He is angry when he is drunk” ⇒ “Takul nûrz amil takul akrag”
  • predictive – future tense for both parts of sentence: “They will die if (they) (will) meet the Balrog” ⇒ “Takmatub ghung taktadub Balrogum”
  • suppositional – when speaker is sure about consequences, then main part is in future tense, but the condition is in Subjunctive: “Could they come, I shall make a feast!” ⇒ “(Ghung) takpâshulg skâtut, dakrampub ash birt”
  • eventive – when speaker is sure that condition may happen, but unsure about consequences, then condition is in future tense, but main part is in Subjunctive: “I would dance, if you will buy me one more drink” ⇒ “Dalîdulg ghung fitûzubiz ash shog nokhar”