Glossary of Linguistic Terms

Assumptive Mood

Definition: 

Assumptive mood is an epistemic mode that signals the speaker's belief that his statement is based on facts about what is usually the case in such circumstances.

Examples: 

(English)

The word will (’ll) in the following constructions indicates assumptive mood:

  • They’ll be on holiday at the moment.
  • That’ll be the postman.
Source: 
61–62