The indicative is the unmarked mood. It is used when no special modal nuance in the clause or sentence is intended. It is the default mood of independent declarative and often also of interrogative sentences. (http://www.uni-erfurt.de/sprachwissenschaft/proxy.php?port=8080&file=lido/servlet/Lido_Servlet Indikativ 18.06.07) Expression of assertion. (Bybee 1985:22) Pertaining to the mood or mode of a verb form or clause such that it predicates a stated relation of objective fact (OED). (http://languagelink.let.uu.nl/tds/onto/LinguisticOntology.owl#indicativeModality)