Presume or assume?

People are often unsure about the difference between these two words. Indeed, they are very close in meaning.

to presume something (verb): to believe something to be true, but without being 100% sure

I presume you’ll come to my party. (I’ll be surprised if you don’t come, but I’ll accept your decision.)

to assume something (verb): to take something for granted, to believe it without question

I assume you’ll come to my party. (I expect to see you at my party. I will want to know why if you don’t come.)

Joe | Saturday, January 24th, 2009 | Filed under Vocabulary

Victoria says:
13th February 2009 at 4:12 pm

i dO reaLLy liKe it

navjot rattu says:
17th February 2009 at 11:35 pm

hi, i am looking a job. i can do any type of job.PLEASE

Linda k hollywood says:
3rd April 2009 at 5:09 am

presume to act as an equal.
assume, to pretend, to suppose,
wonderful I like it.

Good luck
Linda k.

Craig Kitching says:
14th April 2009 at 5:47 am

when you assume you are correct about me, without knowing for sure, and then act on your assumption you can quite easily make an (ASS) out of (U) and (ME).

Belajar Bahasa Inggris says:
25th May 2009 at 3:16 am

To help myself remember this easily, I have always associated ‘presume’ with a term commonly used in legal contexts: ‘presumption of innocence’ or ‘presumed innocent’ which means that an accused is to be considered innocent, even without any proof, until proven otherwise.

Aldrick

Presume or assume?

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