Pretend vs Suppose - What's the difference?
pretend | suppose |
To claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception.
* 1749 , (Henry Fielding), Tom Jones , XVIII.23:
*:"After what past at Upton, so soon to engage in a new amour with another woman, while I fancied, and you pretended , your heart was bleeding for me!"
*{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=5 * 2009 , "Vanity publishing", The Economist , 13 Apr 2009:
To feign, affect (a state, quality, etc.).
* Milton
* 2007 , The Guardian , 29 Oct 2007:
To lay claim (to) (an ability, status, advantage, etc.). (originally used without to )
* Dryden
* 1946 , (Bertrand Russell), History of Western Philosophy , I.25:
To make oneself appear (to) do or be doing something; to engage in make-believe.
* 1814 , (Jane Austen), Mansfield Park :
*:"The truth is, Ma'am," said Mrs. Grant, pretending to whisper across the table to Mrs. Norris, "that Dr. Grant hardly knows what the natural taste of our apricot is [...]."
* 2003 , Duncan Campbell, The Guardian , 23 Jan 2003:
(obsolete) To hold before, or put forward, as a cloak or disguise for something else; to exhibit as a veil for something hidden.
* Milton
(obsolete) To intend; to design; to plot; to attempt.
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) To hold before one; to extend.
*1596 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , VI.11:
*:Pastorella […] Was by the Captaine all this while defended, / Who, minding more her safety then himselfe, / His target alwayes over her pretended […].
To take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.
* {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
, chapter=15 To theorize or hypothesize.
* , chapter=5
, title= * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-09-06, author=
, volume=189, issue=13, page=30, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To imagine; to believe; to receive as true.
* (William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
* (Bible), 2 (w) xiii. 32
*
To require to exist or to be true; to imply by the laws of thought or of nature.
* 1752 , (Charlotte Lennox), (The Female Quixote)
To put by fraud in the place of another.
Suppose is a derived term of pretend.
As verbs the difference between pretend and suppose
is that pretend is to claim, allege, especially when falsely or as a form of deliberate deception while suppose is to take for granted; to conclude, with less than absolute supporting data; to believe.pretend
English
Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=‘It's rather like a beautiful Inverness cloak one has inherited. Much too good to hide away, so one wears it instead of an overcoat and pretends it's an amusing new fashion.’}}
- I have nothing but contempt for people who hire ghost-writers. But at least most faux authors have the decency to pretend that they are sweating blood over "their" book.
- This let him know, / Lest, willfully transgressing, he pretend / Surprisal.
- Gap and other clothes manufacturers should stop using small subcontractors because they are difficult to control. Instead, they should open up their own fully-owned production facilities so that they cannot pretend ignorance when abuses are committed.
- Chiefs shall be grudged the part which they pretend .
- People observed the diversity of schools and the acerbity of their disputes, and decided that all alike were pretending to knowledge which was in fact unattainable.
- Luster claimed that the women had consented to sex and were only pretending to be asleep.
- Lest that too heavenly form, pretended / To hellish falsehood, snare them.
- Such as shall pretend / Malicious practices against his state.
Usage notes
* This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . SeeExternal links
* *suppose
English
Verb
(suppos)citation, passage=‘No,’ said Luke, grinning at her. ‘You're not dull enough! […] What about the kid's clothes? I don't suppose they were anything to write home about, but didn't you keep anything? A bootee or a bit of embroidery or anything at all?’}}
Mr. Pratt's Patients, passage=Of all the queer collections of humans outside of a crazy asylum, it seemed to me this sanitarium was the cup winner. […] When you're well enough off so's you don't have to fret about anything but your heft or your diseases you begin to get queer, I suppose .}}
David Cox
Celebrity rules even Hawking's universe, passage=Just what is supposed to be wrong with the pursuit of fame is not always made clear. Plato disapproved of competition for praise on the grounds that it would tempt the great to bend to the will of the crowd. It is hard to argue with that, and social degradation remains a fear.}}
- How easy is a bush supposed a bear!
- Let not my lord suppose that they have slain all the young men, the king's sons; for Amnon only is dead.
- As a political system democracy seems to me extraordinarily foolish,I do not suppose that it matters much in reality whether laws are made by dukes or cornerboys, but I like, as far as possible, to associate with gentlemen in private life.
- Purpose supposes foresight.
- One falsehood always supposes another, and renders all you can say suspected.