Supongamos que te llame. ¿Qué le dirás?
Let’s suppose he/she calls you. What will you tell him/her?
Suponiendo que te escriba, ¿le contestarás?
Supposing he/she writes to you, will you reply to him/her?
In these sentences, suponer, ‘to suppose’, has the same value as si, ‘if’:
Si te pide dinero, ¿se lo prestarás?
If he/she asks you for money, will you lend it to him/her?
Si te escribe, ¿le contestarás?
If he/she writes to you, will you reply to him/her?
Imagina/imagínate que no acepte tu propuesta.
Imagine he/she doesn’t accept your proposal.
Imagine/imagínese que no aparezca.
Imagine it/he/she doesn’t appear.
Figúrate que se hayan ido.
Imagine they have left.
Pon que hayan tenido un accidente.
Suppose they have had an accident.
Pongamos que no respondan.
Suppose they do not reply.
Note that suponer, imaginar andfigurarse can also function as verbs of thinking, in
which case they are followed by the indicative instead of subjunctive, unless the main
verb is negated:
Supongo/me imagino/me figuro que no vendrán.
I suppose (think) that they will not come.
No me imagino que vengan.
I can’t imagine they will come.18.1.2 (p. 84); 18.1.5 (p. 85)
50.1.3 Deber (de)+ infinitive
To express supposition with regard to the present:
Debe (de) estar enferma.
She must be ill.
Deben (de) estar fuera de Barcelona.
They must be away from Barcelona.
To express supposition with regard to the past:
Debe (de) haber vuelto.
He/she must have come back.
Deben (de) haberse perdido.
They must have got lost.21.2 (p. 100); 48.1.8 (p. 286)
Common expressions of supposition 50.1