In linguistics, irrealis moods (abbreviated ) are the main set of grammatical moods that indicate that a certain situation or action is not known to have happened at the moment the speaker is talking. This contrasts with the realis moods. They are used in statements without truth value (imperative, interrogative, subordinate, etc).
Every language has grammatical ways of expressing unreality. Linguists tend to reserve the term "irrealis" for particular morphological markers or clause types. Many languages with irrealis mood make further subdivisions between kinds of irrealis moods. This is especially so among Algonquian languages such as Blackfoot.
List of irrealis moods
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|-
! Mood !! Event, as intended by speaker !! Example !! Found in
|-
| Subjunctive ( or )
| Event is considered unlikely (mainly used in dependent clauses).
| "If I were to love you..."
|
|-
| Conditional ()
| Event depends upon another condition.
| "I would love you"
|
|-
| Optative ()
| Event is hoped, expected, or awaited.
| "May I be loved!"
|