What are the sub-moods of the conditional mood

[swampwiz]

I have been thinking about this. It seems that there is only one sub-mood (i.e., use) of the conditional mood - that of the apodosis for a hypothetical conditional statement.

"If I were rich, I would travel a lot more."

This hypothetical apodosis could be used in an implied hypothetical conditional statement as well(in fact, I just did it :-D)

What I implied was

"If the speaker intended to do so, this hypothetical spodosis could be used in ..."

It seems to me that all TRUE uses of the conditional mood are for this apodosis.

There is a common misconception - probably brought on by poor preparation of English teachers at their School of Education, so as to make grammar not so difficult for young learners - that anything that uses "would", "could", "should", "might" is conditional. While they can be used for the hypothetical apodosis, they could also be used for the hypothetical protasis sub-mood (i.e., sub-mood of the subjunctive.)

"If I could do better in school, I wouldn't be in danger of flunking out."

which implies, using the corresponding pseudo-modal (i.e., semi-modal)

"If I were able to do better in school, I wouldn't ..."

The use of "would" in a wish clause is the optative mood, that for whatever reason uses "would" - probably because "would" is incorrectly used in the subjunctive past sub-moods, if there is some personal involvement.

"I wish I would win a lot of money."

Also, the use of "would" for past habit is implied conditional

"Back in the day, I would drink a lot."

implies

"If I were in the past right now, I would be drinking a lot."

And the polite forms of questions are also implied conditional

"I would like to order a beer."

"Could you help me?"

implies

"If you would allow me to order, I would like to order a beer."

And "should" can even be used in the indicative mood:

"I should cook more often." (where is there any condition?)

As a side note, it should be noted that the use of "might", which has the connotation of a lower possibility than "may", is really the implied hypothetical apodosis:

"I might go swimming later."

implies

"If I feel like it, or if it is possible for me, etc., I might go ..."

The implication is that there is another hurdle of choice that must be gone through to get to the simple case of "may" probability, hence a lower probability than "may"

 

[5jj]

Just a couple of comments on some of the points you made:

It seems that there is only one sub-mood (i.e., use) of the conditional mood -
Very few grammarians speak of a conditional mood in English.

There is a common misconception - probably brought on by poor preparation of English teachers at their School of Education, so as to make grammar not so difficult for young learners - that anything that uses "would", "could", "should", "might" is conditional.
I do not agree that this is a common misconception.
Do you have evidence of the 'poor preparation of English teachers'?

The use of "would" in a wish clause is the optative mood,
Very few grammarians speak of an optative mood in English


Also, the use of "would" for past habit is implied conditional

"Back in the day, I would drink a lot." implies "If I were in the past right now, I would be drinking a lot."
I do not agree that it does.

And the polite forms of questions are also implied conditional

"I would like to order a beer." "Could you help me?"......implies
"If you would allow me to order, I would like to order a beer."
Do you have evidence for this statement?

And "should" can even be used in the indicative mood:

"I should cook more often." (where is there any condition?)
Who has suggested there is a condition?

... it should be noted that the use of "might" [...] is really the implied hypothetical apodosis:

"I might go swimming later."......implies
"If I feel like it, or if it is possible for me, etc., I might go ..."

The implication is that there is another hurdle of choice that must be gone through to get to the simple case of "may" probability, hence a lower probability than "may"
Do you have evidence for this?

 

[swampwiz]

To the questions about whether I have evidence, I do not evidence - I am just speculating based on my logical examination of the language. That is why I am posting here.

You said that very few grammarians use the term conditional. Then what term do they use?

As for the use of optative, I use it because it is precise. I understand full well that it is considered subjunctive, a mood that IMHO is just a bag to put all the weird moods in (and again, done to make teaching it to children easy.)

As for my comment about 'should', I was using it to point out that indeed even though it is canonically thought of as conditional, it is definitely used for the indicative.