presuppose

«presuppose» in Mova's school dictionary: To take something for granted as true before you start:… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

verb (presuppose, presupposes, presupposed, presupposing) — formal

meaning for a pupil

1) (formal) To take something for granted as true before you start: «The plan presupposes that everyone will help.» tree →

2) (formal) To need something to be true or to exist first: «Reading presupposes knowing the letters.» tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths and logic it points to the hidden starting idea of a question or argument. In reasoning and olympiad puzzles it helps you spot a trick question: «When did you stop cheating?» presupposes that you cheated. Phrases: «presuppose that», «presupposes knowledge of».

examples

• The question «Who broke the vase?» presupposes that somebody broke it. tree →
• Long division presupposes that you know your times tables. tree →
• His plan presupposes that the bus will be on time. tree →
• The story presupposes that dragons can talk. tree →
• Good teamwork presupposes trust. tree →
• Don't presuppose the answer before you check the facts. tree →

note

Formal. Noun: presupposition. In logic, a loaded question presupposes something that may be false; you can answer by questioning the presupposition. Similar to «assume», but «presuppose» is about what must already be true for something else to make sense.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «presuppose» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.