Reading the Room with “Assume” and “Presume”

What does it mean to “assume” or “presume” different things? Keep reading, and we’ll show you the right ways to use these commonly confused terms!

Have you ever been called “presumptuous” by another person? Have you ever been told that you were “bold to assume” something about someone or some phenomenon? Has it ever occurred to you that these two words—“assume” and “presume”—while used in similar contexts, actually mean different things? Don’t worry. We’re not here to grill you on your grammar (although that phrase would be an amazing name for a rock band). Instead, we’re here to teach you the proper ways to use “assume” and “presume” in any sentence and save you the trouble of using them interchangeably.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the verb assume means “to suppose” or “to take as granted or true.” Keep in mind that these are, but two meanings of many, as assume can also mean “to take to or upon oneself” (as in “assume responsibility”) or “to place oneself in” (as in “assume a position”). Nonetheless, in terms of the first definition, a more in-depth guide from Merriam-Webster states that "to assume” is, more specifically, to make a guess “based on little or no evidence.”

  
1. I assume that you have the documents ready for processing.
  
2. Bold of you to assume that I carry my credit card with me everywhere!
  
3. She had assumed that the water wasn’t too cold and regretted it when she dove into the lake.

Meanwhile, Merriam-Webster defines the verb presume as “to expect or assume, especially with confidence,” or “to undertake without leave or clear justification." More specifically, the same in-depth guide mentioned earlier states that presume differs greatly from assume in that the former means to make “an informed guess based on reasonable evidence.” A very prominent exception can be found in the legal use of the term, particularly in the phrase “presumed innocent until proven guilty.” In this phrase, presume is defined as the act of supposing something “to be true without proof.”

  
1. He presumed that she was working because the apartment was quiet, but she was just sleeping.
  
2. They presumed that the man had been killed because of solid evidence from the crime scene.
  
3. You’re presuming that I have a dog because of all the dirt in the kitchen.

To be fair, Merriam-Webster does acknowledge that these two verbs have recently become interchangeable in everyday use. This could be partly attributed to the fact that assume and presume share the Latin verb sumere, which means “to take.” Furthermore, the Latin term praesumere (from which “presume” draws its origins) literally means “to take in advance” (recall from earlier that one of the definitions of presume is “to assume . . . with confidence”). Nevertheless, the main difference between these two verbs is the speaker’s level of confidence when taking something to be true or accurate.

So the next time someone “assumes” or “presumes” something about you, make sure they know exactly what they’re talking about!

Sources:

• Definition of Assume by Merriam-Webster
• Definition of Presume by Merriam-Webster
• Are 'Assume' and 'Presume' Synonyms?

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