Indicative

Indicative is a grammatical mood used to express factual statements, descriptions, and questions about real or believed reality. It is typically the default mood in many languages and is used when the speaker presents information as true or as a straightforward assertion. The term can also refer to a broader sense of something that indicates or signals something.

In English, the indicative is used for most declarative sentences and for questions and negations across present, past, and future tenses. It contrasts with the imperative mood, which gives commands, and with the subjunctive mood, which in many languages expresses wishes, hypotheses, or non-real situations. In modern English, the subjunctive is limited and often resembles the indicative outside certain fixed phrases, but its historical presence remains a reference point for classification of moods.

Examples in the indicative include: The sun rises in the east. She studied biology last year. They will arrive tomorrow. A sentence like If I were rich is typically cited as a subjunctive use in English, illustrating how mood distinctions can vary by language and over time.

Across languages, the indicative commonly marks tense and aspect. It may include present, past, future, and compound tenses, and can interact with voice and mood systems to express various nuances of reality, certainty, and time.

Etymology traces Indicative to Latin indicativus “showing, pointing out,” from indicare “to point out.” In general usage, indicative also serves as an adjective meaning serving to indicate or signifying something.