(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.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
3. ‘The exam is not so difficult.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
4. ‘She is not happy about the chemistry course she's taking.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
5. ‘We haven't heard anything from Barbara.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
6. ‘They were rich.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
7. ‘Can you stop playing with your cat?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
8. ‘She was not aware that her son had an accident.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
9. ‘The explosion was so loud that it could be heard from miles away.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
10. ‘I wish I had not booked the tickets.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
11. ‘Tom might find the chocolate cake in the kitchen.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
12. ‘You will be amazed when you see the view.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
13. ‘I am so sorry, I am in a hurry and I can't answer your question right now.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
14. ‘She was not aware that it would hurt her so much.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
16. ‘Could you drive me to the airport?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
17. ‘It took us two days to come back from Hanoi by train.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
18. ‘It is going to rain for a long time.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
19. ‘I am going to have a final examination in Semantics.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
20. ‘We are going to be teachers of English.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
21. ‘I think I will pass the exam.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
22. ‘I hope to have a good result for this exam.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
23. ‘But before your encouragement, we would have given up.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
24. ‘I got an excellent mark for my essay last time.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
25. ‘I missed my class on Monday because I overslept.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
26. ‘My sister is going to graduate from university.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
27. ‘I've got a good mark for the exam in American Literature.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
28. ‘I am going to have a new grammar book.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
29. ‘When did you give up teaching?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
30. ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
31. ‘Fred continued/didn't continue speaking.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
32. ‘I cleaned/didn't clean the room.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
33. ‘He killed/didn't kill the bird.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
34. ‘What was John worried about?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
35. ‘Bill drank another glass of beer?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
36. ‘Could you lend me the novel when you finish it?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
37. ‘I can't guess when the rain stops?’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
38. ‘Please take me to the circus again.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
39. ‘He pretended to be pleased with the gift.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________
40. ‘If only you had taken his offer.’
The utterance presupposes that _________________________

(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.