Suppositions

Question

Can we use the present tense in suppositions like in the examples below?
If yes, when is the present tense preferred over the past tense?

Imagine you are an actor...

Suppose I am to write an essay...

Another question, which is correct between phrases below?
Does the past perfect tense give more emphasis that you want the person to imagine he was someone in the past? Because the past tense could only be interpreted as imagining being someone you are not at the moment, though I'm not sure if I'm correct about this.

Imagine you were the class president...

Imagine you had been the class president...

Yankee · Accepted Answer

Hi Anon

1. Imagine you are an actor...

2. Suppose I am to write an essay...

I think there is an important difference between your two examples: The first commands the listener to do something definite, and the second tells the listener to think about an activity that the speaker may or may not do.

Thus, in example 1, the activity is a real activity, and the speaker expects the listener to carry that activity out. In example 2, the performance of the activity itself is not sure -- i.e. whether or not the activity itself will be carried out is unsure. Thus, if "am" is used in 2, the speaker would be suggesting that the writing of an essay is quite probable. If "were" is used in 2, then the speaker would be suggesting that the doing of the activity is much less sure -- i.e. only theoretically possible.

You might also interpret number 2 this way:
- Suppose someone tells/told me this: "Write an essay."

To me, the difference between tells and told would be the same sort of difference as the difference between a type 1 IF-sentence (real possibility) and a type 2 IF-sentence (theoretical/unreal).

3. Imagine you were the class president...

4. Imagine you had been the class president...

I'd say example 3 might be interpretted in two ways, and I imagine the broader context would play an important role in the way the sentence is understood. It might be interpretted as being like 1 except that the speaker wants the listener to imagine being class president in a past context. OR the the speaker might possibly be telling the listener to imagine a situation which is currently unreal.

Example 4 clearly tells the listener to imagine something counter-factual about the past.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks so much, Yankee. You really explained it well. I see using suppose has similarities with the rules of conditionals (IF-sentence). Also, at first, I thought imagine and suppose could be used interchangeably but now I know that the former is definite and the latter is something may or may not happen.

Great help, indeed. Cheers.

Suppositions

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