❓'Suppose' and 'supposed to' - Improve your English with Learners' Questions

Hi guys! Dan here for BBC Learning English with this week's Learner Question. Find out

what it is after this.

OK! This week's learner question comes from Sanmati from India, who writes: People use

suppose and supposed to a lot of the time in conversation. Can you please tell me in

which sense and where they should be used? Ok, Sanmati. Here we go.

So, suppose can mean think, believe, imagine or expect, and in this sense, suppose is often

used with negative structures when we hope the answer will be positive. For example:

I don’t suppose you could lend me £20, could you?

It is also used in short answers with the same meaning of think, believe, imagine, or

expect, and note that two forms of the negative are possible. For example: Do you think he

will be late? I suppose so. I suppose not. I don’t suppose so.

Now, suppose and supposing can also be used in a completely different way to mean something

like ‘what if’. And this is to introduce suggestions or to express fear. Now, note

that the verb which follows suppose or supposing can be in the present tense or the past tense.

So, for example: Suppose I come tomorrow instead of Friday, will that be ok? Or: Supposing

I came tomorrow instead of Friday, would that be ok?

We can also use the structure be supposed to plus the infinitive. And this means that

something should be done because it is the law, the rule or the custom. However, in practice,

it’s probably not done. For example: I’m supposed to clean my room before I go out,

but I never do!

Finally we can use the expression supposed to be to mean generally believed to be true

by people. For example: This medicine’s supposed to be good for stomach cramps. Why

don’t you try taking it?

Finally, when you use supposed to in speech, note that the ‘d’ is not pronounced. It

is pronounced suppose to. However, when you write it down, don’t forget the ‘d’,

ok?

I hope that answers your question Sanmati. Thank you very much for writing to us. If

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Questions. I’ll see you next time.