Modern Spanish Grammar: A Practical Guide

50Expressing suppositionThis chapter examines the concept of supposition and the verbs and phrases associatedwith it.50.1Common expressions of suppositionTo express supposition, as in ‘If they come . . .’, ‘Suppose that he asks you for money’,‘Imagine that he doesn’t accept’, ‘In case he arrives today’, ‘They must be there’, etc.,Spanish uses a range of words and expressions, of which the most common are thefollowing.50.1.1Si + present indicative; si + imperfect subjunctiveWhen expressing supposition, these two expressions with si, ‘if’, have a similarmeaning, although with the present indicative, the possibility referred to by the verbappears as more real and likely than with the imperfect subjunctive. When using thepresent indicative, the verb in the accompanying sentence will be in the future; whenusing the imperfect subjunctive, the other verb will be a conditional.Si te invitan, ¿aceptarás?If they invite you, will you accept?Si te invitaran, ¿aceptarías?If they invited you, would you accept?¿Qué le dirás, si te llama?What will you say to him/her if he/she calls?¿Qué le dirías, si te llamara?What would you say to him/her if he/she called you? 51 (p. 299); 18.2.4 (p. 89)50.1.2Suponer/imaginar(se)/figurarse/poner + que + subjunctiveSuponer, ‘to suppose’, and imaginar or imaginarse, ‘to imagine’, are equally commonin informal and formal contexts, while figurarse, ‘to imagine’, and poner, ‘to suppose’,tend to be used in more informal contexts, especially in the spoken language.Supón que te pida dinero. ¿Se lo prestarás?Suppose he/she asks you for money. Will you lend it to him/her?296