Presupposition Exercises

(Tô Minh Thành)
Exercise 34: Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following sentences.

1. ‘I am sorry I cannot find your book right now.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
2. ‘On the occasion of my friend's birthday, I intend to buy her a new vase.’
3. ‘The exam is not so difficult.’
4. ‘She is not happy about the chemistry course she's taking.’
5. ‘We haven't heard anything from Barbara.’
6. ‘They were rich.’
7. ‘Can you stop playing with your cat?’
8. ‘She was not aware that her son had an accident.’
9. ‘The explosion was so loud that it could be heard from miles away.’
10. ‘I wish I had not booked the tickets.’
11. ‘Tom might find the chocolate cake in the kitchen.’
12. ‘You will be amazed when you see the view.’
13. ‘I am so sorry, I am in a hurry and I can't answer your question right now.’
14. ‘She was not aware that it would hurt her so much.’
16. ‘Could you drive me to the airport?’
17. ‘It took us two days to come back from Hanoi by train.’
18. ‘It is going to rain for a long time.’
19. ‘I am going to have a final examination in Semantics.’
20. ‘We are going to be teachers of English.’
21. ‘I think I will pass the exam.’
22. ‘I hope to have a good result for this exam.’
23. ‘But before your encouragement, we would have given up.’
24. ‘I got an excellent mark for my essay last time.’
25. ‘I missed my class on Monday because I overslept.’
26. ‘My sister is going to graduate from university.’
27. ‘I've got a good mark for the exam in American Literature.’
28. ‘I am going to have a new grammar book.’
29. ‘When did you give up teaching?’
30. ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’
31. ‘Fred continued/didn't continue speaking.’
32. ‘I cleaned/didn't clean the room.’
33. ‘He killed/didn't kill the bird.’
34. ‘What was John worried about?’
35. ‘Bill drank another glass of beer?’
36. ‘Could you lend me the novel when you finish it?’
37. ‘I can't guess when the rain stops?’
38. ‘Please take me to the circus again.’
39. ‘He pretended to be pleased with the gift.’
40. ‘If only you had taken his offer.’
(Yan Huang)
1. What presuppositions do the following constructions give rise to?
(i) The burglar realized that he had been filmed on closed circuit television.
(ii) John forgot to do the washing up.
(iii) John hasn’t driven a car since he had the accident.
(iv) Professor Huang was glad that he had solved one of evolution’s great mysteries.
(v) John isn’t off cigarettes again.
(vi) It wasn’t John who moved to Spain.
(vii) Susan discovered that her husband was having an affair.
(viii) Mary started emptying the shopping bags.
(ix) It’s odd that John doesn’t know how to telnet.
(x) Jane never remarried.
(xi) If John hadn’t missed the interview, he would have got the job.
(xii) John hasn’t found out that his brother used all the printer paper.
2. Can you work out the presuppositions of the following?

(i) John pretended that he was a professional footballer.
(ii) John, who read mathematics at Harvard, was a friend of mine.
(iii) Susan has fed all the rabbits.
(iv) That John hadn’t had a bath for more than three weeks bothered Susan.
(v) John criticised Susan for wearing a fur coat.
3. In each of the following sentences/utterances, I have identified an inference in

(b).Using constancy under negation as a diagnostic, can you tell which inference is a
presupposition and which is not?
(i) a. John has three girlfriends.
b. John does not have, for example, four girlfriends
(ii) a. John understands that raised cholesterol level will increase the risk of heart disease.
b. Raised cholesterol level will increase the risk of heart disease
(iii) a. It was in August that John found his brother.
b. John found his brother sometime
(iv) a. Even John’s mother likes surfing the net.
b. Others, besides John’s mother, likes surfing the net; and of those underconsideration,
John’s mother is among the least likely to do so.
(v) a. Please open the window.
b. The window is not open
(vi) a. All of her children believe in marriage.
b. Some of her children believe in marriage
(vii) a. John is rich but humble.
b. There is a contrast between being rich and being humble
4. What are the putative presuppositions of the following? How is each of them
cancelled?
(i) Manchester United didn’t regret losing the game, because in fact they won!
(ii)Dr Smith left the university before being promoted to an associate professor.
(iii) You say that somebody in this room fancies Henry. Well, it isn’t Mary
who fancies Henry, it isn’t Lucy, and it certainly isn’t Jane. In fact, nobody in this room
fancies Henry!
(iv) John doesn’t know that Neil Armstrong was the first man to travel in space.
(v) John was in his office when the news was announced, if it was in fact ever
announced.
(vi) He is proud that he is the tsar of Russia, but of course there isn’t any such tsar
anymore!
(vii) If Cambridge wins the boat race, John will be happy that Cambridge is the winner.

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(Tô Minh Thành)

Exercise 34: Identify the presupposition(s) in each of the following sentences.

2. Can you work out the presuppositions of the following?

3. In each of the following sentences/utterances, I have identified an inference in

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