"Je suppose" vs "J'imagine": what's the difference in French (Emily in Paris, season 2, ep.7)

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"Je suppose" vs "J'imagine": what's the difference in French (Emily in Paris, season 2, ep.7)

Transcript of the video

If I was in a relationship with a boy and he left me for another girl, I can say "I guess he is happier with her".

It's in my imagination.

Hello everyone. I hope you are well and ready for a new video in French.

Today, we will see the difference between "I suppose" and "I imagine".

Before starting, remember as usual to activate the subtitles if you need them.

If I speak too fast or too slow, feel free to change the speed of the video.

Anyway, I hope you like this video and give it a like, a thumb.

I don't know if you watch the series on Netflix "Emily in Paris".

But in season 2, specifically in episode 7, Emily's French teacher brings up the difference between I suppose and I imagine.

She talks about the difference between the two.

(…)

She explains that most of the students in the class had difficulty with the test they had to take between the phrase I guess and I imagine.

So we're going to look at that together today.

In this scene from "Emily in Paris", the teacher explains that there is a difference.

In fact, these two expressions are really very, very close and I think that nobody is going to tell you, to make a remark to you if you use I imagine instead of I suppose or I suppose instead of I imagine.

Simply because it means almost the same thing.

Let me explain the small nuance.

Even though it's very similar, I guess it's a little more abstract.

It's really like you think, it's a little more in your imagination, in your head.

In English, I guess, it would be "I think so" or "I believe so".

I don't like to go through English too much, but I know it helps some people to do it.

I would prefer to stay really French, but I know it helps you so I try to find similar expressions.

Whereas, I suppose, in English, it will really be "I suppose to".

I imagine is a little more abstract and I suppose is a little more concrete.

You guess! It's a little more assertive we'll say.

I guess, we'll say it's to assert an opinion a little bit stronger or to talk about something that is more concrete.

But as I was really telling you, in most cases, we're not going to make a difference.

For example, I could say if I was in a relationship with a boy and he left me for another girl, I can say "I guess he's happier with her".

So, it's in my imagination, I imagine it.

I could also say I guess he is happier with her, but I guess as it is a little more in my imagination is a little more suitable.

If, for example, I'm with someone and I know that this person, is dieting, so she's trying to lose weight, I'll offer her a coffee and I'll say it "I guess you don't take sugar" because we're in a concrete situation, I know she's dieting, but again, if I say "I guess you don't take sugar", it's not offensive at all, you can totally say it.

It's kind of... It really depends a little bit on how much intensity you want to put into your sentence, but as I've told you many times in this video, it's really. The difference is really very, very, very subtle.

I use one or the other without really making a difference.

That's it for today. It's a pretty short video, but I really wanted to make it for you because I thought if some of you were watching this "Emily in Paris" series, you might have wondered about the difference between, I guess and I imagine, as it's discussed in the series.

If you liked the video, of course, please give it a thumbs up and above all, if you are new, subscribe so that you don't miss any of my videos and I'll see you soon.

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