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I am learning grammatical mood currently and I am a bit confused about this sentence.

We were hoping you could have a cup of coffee with us.

So does the verb "were hoping" indicate subjunctive or indicative mood? I mean, it is obviously a polite proposal but it's not typical usage of the verb in the subjunctive mood, is it? Then can we consider the verb to be in the indicative mood?

KillingTime
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Jana
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  • Use 'he' instead of 'we'. // Note that this shows heavy hedging. "We were hoping that you could/would have a cup of coffee with us" is (as usually used) just a very polite way of saying "Let's get a coffee". Probably best classed as an idiom, and not analysed to death. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 26 '20 at 14:19
  • Since English does not have a subjunctive mood -- merely a couple of rare constructions -- you can call anything you like "indicative". Of course, you can also call whatever you like "subjunctive", and many do. There are no laws regarding grammatical terminology, and every school teaches a different version. – John Lawler Apr 26 '20 at 15:23

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