Suppose in Different Languages
Discover 'Suppose' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Updated on March 6, 2024
The word 'suppose' is a versatile and fascinating term that carries significant meaning in the English language. At its core, 'suppose' is used to express a assumption or a possibility (e.g., 'I suppose it could rain later'). But it can also be used to convey politeness, as in, 'Suppose we go to the movies tonight?'
Beyond its significance in English, 'suppose' has found its way into various cultures and languages, making it a valuable word to know for anyone interested in language and cultural exploration. For instance, in Spanish, 'suponer' is the translation for 'suppose,' while in French, 'supposer' is used. In German, the word is 'annehmen,' and in Japanese, it's '思う' (omou).
Delving into the translations of 'suppose' in different languages offers a window into how other cultures express assumptions, possibilities, and politeness, providing unique insights into their ways of thinking and communicating. So, whether you're a language enthusiast, a world traveler, or simply curious, exploring the word 'suppose' in various languages is a worthwhile pursuit.
Suppose
Suppose in Sub-Saharan African Languages
| Afrikaans | veronderstel | ||
| "Veronderstel" in Afrikaans shares its root with the Dutch "verstellen," meaning "to adjust" or "to alter." | |||
| Amharic | እንበል | ||
| The word "እንበል" is also used in the sense of "maybe" or "perhaps". | |||
| Hausa | tsammani | ||
| "Tsammani" is Hausa for "suppose", also "possibly" or "maybe". | |||
| Igbo | were | ||
| The Igbo word "were" also means "indeed" or "truly". | |||
| Malagasy | aoka hatao | ||
| The word "aoka" derives from the verb "aoka-aoka" meaning "to try", while "hatao" means either "to cast" or "to throw". | |||
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | tingoyerekeza | ||
| The word "tingoyerekeza" can also mean "to measure" or "to estimate". | |||
| Shona | funga | ||
| "Funga" also means "to believe" or "to think" in Shona. | |||
| Somali | ka soo qaad | ||
| Somali "ka soo qaad" is also used when discussing hypothetical situations and to give examples and suppositions, hence sharing its roots with "originating from" | |||
| Sesotho | nahana | ||
| The word "nahana" in Sesotho also means "think" or "believe" | |||
| Swahili | tuseme | ||
| The Swahili word "tuseme" also means "let's say" or "for example". | |||
| Xhosa | cinga | ||
| The word "cinga" can mean "think," "believe," or "suppose" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yoruba | ro pe | ||
| In Yoruba, 'ro pe' means 'to take by the hand', and implies the speaker is making a guess or proposing a possibility, rather than a definite statement. | |||
| Zulu | ake sithi | ||
| The Zulu word "ake sithi" can also mean "it is said" or "as it is said". | |||
| Bambara | ka bisigi | ||
| Ewe | bui be | ||
| Kinyarwanda | tuvuge | ||
| Lingala | kokanisa | ||
| Luganda | okuteekwa | ||
| Sepedi | nagana | ||
| Twi (Akan) | wɔ sɛ | ||
Suppose in North African & Middle Eastern Languages
| Arabic | افترض | ||
| The Arabic word "افترض" can also mean "to take for granted" or "to assume". | |||
| Hebrew | לְהַנִיחַ | ||
| The root of the word לְהַנִיחַ is נ-ח-ח, which means "to rest" or "to place." | |||
| Pashto | فرض کړئ | ||
| فرض کړئ is also used to express the conditional mood, similar to the English "if."} | |||
| Arabic | افترض | ||
| The Arabic word "افترض" can also mean "to take for granted" or "to assume". | |||
Suppose in Western European Languages
| Albanian | supozoj | ||
| The Albanian word "supozoj" is derived from the French word "supposer". | |||
| Basque | demagun | ||
| The word "demagun" can also be used to express an opinion, e.g. to say "I think it is going to rain". | |||
| Catalan | suposo | ||
| The Catalan word "suposo" derives from the Latin "supponere", meaning "to put under" or "to assume". | |||
| Croatian | pretpostavimo | ||
| Pretpostavimo (suppose) has a double etymological origin: "pre" (before) + "postaviti" (to put), and "pred" (before) + "staviti" (to stand). | |||
| Danish | formode | ||
| The word "formode" is derived from the Old Norse word "formoða", which means "to make a conjecture" or "to assume". | |||
| Dutch | veronderstellen | ||
| "Veronderstellen" derives from the Dutch words "voor" (in front of), "onder" (below) and "stellen" (place), and thus etymologically means to place something in front of something else that is below. | |||
| English | suppose | ||
| "Suppose" originally meant "place under" in the 14th century, from Old French "suppeser". It was influenced in the 16th century to mean "pretend" or "imagine". | |||
| French | supposer | ||
| In French, 'supposer' also means to endure, withstand, or tolerate, derived from the Latin 'supportare'. | |||
| Frisian | stel | ||
| In North Frisian, the word 'stel' also means 'place' or 'stable'. | |||
| Galician | supoño | ||
| The Galician word "supoño" is also used to mean "believe" or "think". | |||
| German | annehmen | ||
| "annehmen" can also mean "to accept" or "to assume" | |||
| Icelandic | geri ráð fyrir | ||
| The word "geri ráð fyrir" can also mean "to give advice to" or "to make a suggestion to" in Icelandic. | |||
| Irish | is dócha | ||
| Irish "is dócha" translates to English "suppose" and means "it is likely" in Irish. | |||
| Italian | supponiamo | ||
| The etymology of the Italian word "supponiamo" is the Latin phrase "supponere" meaning "put under", which is related to the Italian verb *sopporre* ("put under"). | |||
| Luxembourgish | unhuelen | ||
| Maltese | jissoponi | ||
| The word "jissoponi" comes from the Italian word "supporre". | |||
| Norwegian | anta | ||
| Anta means "assume" in Norwegian, and is derived from the Old Norse word "antaka," meaning "to think." | |||
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | suponha | ||
| The word "suponha" comes from the Latin "supponere", meaning "to place under" or "to substitute". | |||
| Scots Gaelic | creidsinn | ||
| The word "creidsinn" in Scots Gaelic is also used to mean "to think" or "to believe." | |||
| Spanish | suponer | ||
| The verb "suponer" in Spanish derives from the Latin word "supponere", meaning to place underneath or to substitute. | |||
| Swedish | anta | ||
| anta derives from the Old Norse word | |||
| Welsh | mae'n debyg | ||
| 'Mae'n debyg' is derived from Welsh 'mae,' meaning 'is' or 'being,' with 'debyg' meaning 'similar' or 'likely.' Thus, 'mae'n debyg' suggests 'it resembles' or 'it is plausible.' | |||
Suppose in Eastern European Languages
| Belarusian | выкажам здагадку | ||
| Bosnian | pretpostavimo | ||
| The word 'pretpostavimo' is derived from the Proto-Slavic word 'prědstaviti', meaning 'to put before'. It also has the alternate meaning of 'to introduce' or 'to present'. | |||
| Bulgarian | да предположим | ||
| "Да предположим" is borrowed from Russian and derives from the verb "предлагать" (to propose). | |||
| Czech | předpokládat | ||
| The Czech word "předpokládat" (to suppose) is derived from the Proto-Slavic root *pod-polagati, meaning "to lay under". | |||
| Estonian | oletame | ||
| "Oletama" ultimately originates from "olema" which means "being" and was first used to mean "hold for true" in the 19th century. | |||
| Finnish | olettaa | ||
| "Olettaa" is also an archaic form of the verb "olla" (to be), a use still found in some dialects. | |||
| Hungarian | tegyük fel | ||
| Tegyük fel is a modal word that can also be used to introduce rhetorical questions in Hungarian. | |||
| Latvian | pieņemsim | ||
| The word "pieņemsim" is derived from the Slavic word "prijati", which means "to accept" or "to take". | |||
| Lithuanian | tarkime | ||
| The etymology of "tarkime" is unclear, and it may mean "to suppose," "to imagine," "to think," or "to assume." | |||
| Macedonian | да претпоставиме | ||
| The word "да претпоставиме" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *predpoložiti, meaning "to suggest" or "to propose". | |||
| Polish | przypuszczać | ||
| The word "przypuszczać" also means "to admit". | |||
| Romanian | presupune | ||
| In Romanian, "presupune" comes from the Greek "προϋποθέτω," and also means "to imply" or "to involve." | |||
| Russian | предположить | ||
| The word "предположить" can also mean "to suggest" or "to propose". | |||
| Serbian | претпоставимо | ||
| Претпоставимо is also a participle form of the verb претпоставити (pretpostaviti) which means "to presuppose" or "to assume". | |||
| Slovak | predpokladajme | ||
| Predpokladajme derives from “predpokladať”, meaning “to presuppose”, with the suffix -jme denoting the first person plural imperative. | |||
| Slovenian | domnevam | ||
| The Slovenian word “domnevam” derives from “domnejvati” meaning “to guess” and can also imply a notion of presumption, hinting at an anticipated or assumed possibility. | |||
| Ukrainian | припустимо | ||
| "припустимо" can also mean "it is permissible" or "it is allowed." | |||
Suppose in South Asian Languages
| Bengali | ধরুন | ||
| "ধরুন" can also mean "to catch" or "to hold" in Bengali. | |||
| Gujarati | માનો | ||
| "માનો" can also mean to assume or imagine something. | |||
| Hindi | मान लीजिए | ||
| The word "मान लीजिए" can also mean "assuming that", "let us assume", or "for the sake of argument". | |||
| Kannada | .ಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ | ||
| The Kannada word ".ಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ" can also mean 'to estimate' | |||
| Malayalam | കരുതുക | ||
| In Malayalam, "കരുതുക" can also refer to "to believe" or "to assume". | |||
| Marathi | समजा | ||
| समजा (suppose) is derived from समज (understanding), indicating the connection between assumption and comprehension in Marathi language. | |||
| Nepali | मानौं | ||
| The word 'मानौं' originates from the Sanskrit word 'मन' meaning 'mind', indicating the speculative or hypothetical nature of the idea it presents. | |||
| Punjabi | ਮੰਨ ਲਓ | ||
| “ਮੰਨ ਲਓ” also refers to the name of a town in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India. | |||
| Sinhala (Sinhalese) | සිතමු | ||
| The Sinhala word 'සිතමු' (sithamu) can also mean 'think' or 'believe'. | |||
| Tamil | நினைக்கிறேன் | ||
| Telugu | అనుకుందాం | ||
| The word "అనుకుందాం" is derived from the Sanskrit word "अनुमन्", meaning "to think". It can also be used to express a hypothetical situation or a suggestion. | |||
| Urdu | فرض کیج | ||
| The word "فرض کیج" comes from the Arabic word "فرض", which means "to impose" or "to require". | |||
Suppose in East Asian Languages
| Chinese (Simplified) | 假设 | ||
| 假设 can also mean 'imagine' or 'take for granted', or 'hypothesis' in scientific writing. | |||
| Chinese (Traditional) | 假設 | ||
| 假設在古代也意指「裝假」、「不真」，如「作假設」指裝模作樣、假裝，且「設」與「假」兩字於古時音韻相近。」} | |||
| Japanese | 仮定します | ||
| "仮定します" (suppose) comes from the words "仮" (provisional) and "定" (establish). It can also mean "assume" or "presume." | |||
| Korean | 가정하다 | ||
| The word "가정하다" also means "to presume" or "to take for granted". | |||
| Mongolian | гэж бодъё | ||
| The word "гэж бодъё" in Mongolian can also be used to express other ideas such as "it seems" or "I guess". | |||
| Myanmar (Burmese) | ဆိုပါစို့ | ||
Suppose in South East Asian Languages
| Indonesian | seharusnya | ||
| "Seharusnya" (suppose) literally translates as "it should be the way it was". | |||
| Javanese | umpamane | ||
| The word "umpamane" in Javanese has the alternate meaning of "example". | |||
| Khmer | ឧបមា | ||
| The word "ឧបមា" (sop-mæa) also means "comparison" and "analogy" in Khmer. | |||
| Lao | ສົມມຸດວ່າ | ||
| Malay | andaikan | ||
| The word "andaikan" in Malay comes from the Arabic word "an dakara", meaning "if so" or "if because". | |||
| Thai | สมมติ | ||
| The word "สมมติ" (suppose) in Thai also means "to posit", "to assume", or "to postulate", suggesting a provisional or hypothetical nature. | |||
| Vietnamese | giả sử | ||
| Giả sử (suppose) may also mean fake or not genuine in Vietnamese. | |||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kunwari | ||
Suppose in Central Asian Languages
| Azerbaijani | güman | ||
| "Güman" can also mean "doubt" or "mistrust" in Azerbaijani. | |||
| Kazakh | делік | ||
| "Делік" can also mean "hypothesis", "assumption", or "guess". | |||
| Kyrgyz | дейли | ||
| The Kyrgyz word "дейли" can also mean "maybe" or "probably". | |||
| Tajik | фарз кунем | ||
| The Tajik word "фарз кунем" is derived from the Persian word "فرض کنیم" which literally means "let us assume". | |||
| Turkmen | çaklaň | ||
| Uzbek | taxmin qilaylik | ||
| The word "taxmin qilaylik" also means "to suspect" and has Persian roots, being derived from the word "taxmin", meaning "conjecture" or "guess." | |||
| Uyghur | پەرەز قىلايلى | ||
Suppose in Pacific Languages
| Hawaiian | manaʻo | ||
| The word "manaʻo" is used in Hawaiian to both suppose and to have an opinion. | |||
| Maori | whakaaro | ||
| The word 'whakaaro' comes from the Proto-Polynesian word '*fakaaro', meaning 'to think', 'to consider', or 'to suppose'. | |||
| Samoan | manatu | ||
| The word "manatu" in Samoan can also refer to "think" or "believe." | |||
| Tagalog (Filipino) | kunwari | ||
| "Kunwari" can mean "suppose," "fake," or "pretend" in Tagalog. | |||
Suppose in American Indigenous Languages
| Aymara | ukhamsaña | ||
| Guarani | mo'ã | ||
Suppose in International Languages
| Esperanto | supozu | ||
| "Supozo" originates from the Latin "supponere" (place under), meaning "assuming" or "taking for granted". | |||
| Latin | putant | ||
| The Latin word "putant" also means "they think", | |||
Suppose in Others Languages
| Greek | υποθέτω | ||
| The word 'υποθέτω' ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root *upo-dʰeh₁-, meaning 'to put under'. | |||
| Hmong | xav tias | ||
| Xav tias is a compound word in Hmong, composed of "xav" (to imagine) and "tias" (to assume). | |||
| Kurdish | bawerkirin | ||
| The word "bawerkirin" is a compound of "bawer" (belief) and "kirin" (to do), suggesting the idea of holding or performing a belief. | |||
| Turkish | varsaymak | ||
| The word "varsaymak" is derived from the Persian word "varsidan", meaning "to guess". | |||
| Xhosa | cinga | ||
| The word "cinga" can mean "think," "believe," or "suppose" in Xhosa. | |||
| Yiddish | רעכן | ||
| "רעכן" can mean "to guess" or "to pretend" in addition to "to suppose". | |||
| Zulu | ake sithi | ||
| The Zulu word "ake sithi" can also mean "it is said" or "as it is said". | |||
| Assamese | ধৰা হওক | ||
| Aymara | ukhamsaña | ||
| Bhojpuri | मान लीं | ||
| Dhivehi | ހީވާގޮތުން | ||
| Dogri | ख्याल करना | ||
| Filipino (Tagalog) | kunwari | ||
| Guarani | mo'ã | ||
| Ilocano | ipagarup | ||
| Krio | lɛ wi se | ||
| Kurdish (Sorani) | پێشبینی | ||
| Maithili | मानि लिय | ||
| Meiteilon (Manipuri) | ꯀꯔꯤꯒꯨꯝꯕ ꯑꯃ ꯑꯣꯏꯔꯁꯤ ꯍꯥꯏꯅ ꯈꯅꯁꯤ | ||
| Mizo | ringchhin | ||
| Oromo | akka ta'etti yaaduu | ||
| Odia (Oriya) | ମନେକର | ||
| Quechua | yuyaylla | ||
| Sanskrit | यदि | ||
| Tatar | уйлагыз | ||
| Tigrinya | ኢልካ ሓዝ | ||
| Tsonga | kumbexana | ||