Hypothetical mood (
abbreviated
An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...
) is an
epistemic grammatical mood found in some languages (for example
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
* Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
* Lakota, Iowa
* Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
* La ...
) which indicates that while a statement is not actually true, it could easily have been.
For instance, in English, "You know you shouldn't play with knives!
You could have hurt someone!" conveys a meaning that would be expressed with the hypothetical mood in Lakota.
References
Grammatical moods
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