We then use the
_imperative_ or _commanding_ mode, and say, _Walk_, sir. And when we do
not wish to command a man to act, we sometimes allude to his _power_ or
_ability_ to act. This fourth mode of representing action, is called the
_potential_ mode; as, He _can walk_; He _could walk_. The fifth and last
mode, called the _infinitive_ or _unlimited_ mode, we employ in
expressing action in an unlimited manner; that is, without confining it,
in respect to number and person, to any particular agent; as, _To walk,
to ride_. Thus you perceive, that the mood, mode, or manner of
representing the action, passion, or being of a verb, must vary
according to the different intentions of the mind.
Were we to assign a particular name to _every_ change in the mode or
manner of representing action or being, the number of moods in our
language would amount to many hundreds. But this principle of division
and arrangement, if followed out in detail, would lead to great
perplexity, without producing any beneficial result. The division of Mr.
Harris, in his Hermes, is much more curious than instructive. He has
fourteen moods; his _interrogative, optative, hortative, promissive,
precautive, requisitive, enunciative_, &c.
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