Be Supposed To - How to Use BE SUPPOSED TO in English

how to use the expression to be supposed to in English hey everyone how's it going in this video I'm going to teach you a really must know expression that's going to help you sound fluent and natural and that expression is to be supposed to of course I'm Jennifer from Jaipur English comm and this channel is dedicated to helping you sound like a fluent confident natural English speaker so let's get started with this video to be supposed to this is the expression that you're going to know how to use by the end of the video now to be supposed to we use this expression to talk about obligation or commitment so when you use this you're using it with something that you're required to do because of an obligation or commitment let me give you an example sentence tonight I'm going to a little holiday party so this morning I said to Kevin I said what time are we supposed to be there what time are we supposed to be there now remember is about a commitment or an obligation so because we agreed to go to this party we said yes we will be there we made a commitment to go to that party so you don't have to use this expression just for big big major commitments you can use it for minor things like just agreeing to go to a party and of course when we agreed to go to that party well there's a start time to the party so that's the requirement or the commitment for us what time are we supposed to be there now let's talk about the sentence structure so our sentence structure is to be suppose and then infinitive so the to to be supposed to that to belongs to the infinitive verb now here's what you mean to keep in mind this is a to be expression that means to be is our main verb it's the verb that's conjugated according to the subject and according to the time reference suppose is always in a needy form okay always it doesn't change and we always use the infinitive following suppose so in my sentence what time are we supposed to be there now our is being conjugated with our subject we right and for verb tense it's in the present simple okay the verb to be is being conjugated in the present simple now we use the present simple form in this expression to talk about a future event that's what you need to keep in mind so the party I'm going to is tonight it's in the future but I'm putting my verb to be in the present simple let me give you another example I could say I'm supposed to call my uncle tomorrow I'm the verb to be is being conjugated with the subject I I am I'm and it's in the present simple even though the time reference is the future tomorrow I'm supposed to call to call is our infinitive I'm supposed to call my uncle tomorrow that means that I have a commitment or an obligation to call my uncle I told him or I told somebody else that yes I'll call him tomorrow I'm supposed to call my uncle tomorrow so just remember for a future commit we use our expression in the present simple and it's the verb to be that's being conjugated with our subject and in the present simple now also keep in mind that whether or not I actually call my uncle tomorrow is not known okay it's a future event will I do it who knows that's not really the point the point of this expression isn't to talk about whether or not that action actually happens the point is just to express an obligation or a commitment I'm supposed to call my uncle tomorrow maybe I will maybe I won't I guess it depends what happens tomorrow how busy of a day I have but I do have an obligation or I made a commitment to call him now this expression is commonly used in the past as well so we've already talked about how to use it in the present simple so let's talk about how to use it in the past let me give you an example I could simply say I was supposed to call my uncle yesterday okay I was our verb to be is in the past and it's conjugated with the subject I I was supposed to call remember suppose an infinitive does not change I was supposed to call my uncle yesterday now question for you if I say I was supposed to call my uncle yesterday did I call my uncle yesterday hmm what do you think let us know in the comments do you think yes I did or no I didn't let us know in the comments this is very important to keep in mind if this expression is used in the past the action did not happen okay I didn't call my uncle yesterday I was supposed to call my uncle yesterday but it's commonly followed with but and then you provide your reason I was supposed to call my uncle yesterday but I was really busy at work and I couldn't so keep that in mind the action did not happen all right let's summarize what we know the expression is to be supposed to after suppose we have our infinitive suppose an infinitive never change it's always like that this is a verb to be expression the verb to be changes according to your subject and your time reference this expression is used with a commitment or an obligation that you have we use this expression in the present simple to talk about a future commitment we don't know if that future commitment will actually happen we use this expression in the past simple to talk about an action that did not happen even though you had an obligation or a requirement to do it so now you know how to use the expression to be supposed to and now it's your turn to practice so make sure you leave two examples in the comments below one in the present simple for a future event and the other in the past simple for an action that did not happen I can't wait to read your examples now this is an expression that I taught my students in the finally fluent academy so if you're already a member you can log in and then review this do the practice exercises and get personalized support from me if you're not a member you can start your free 7-day trial using the link below and you can add this expression and many more to your vocabulary to help you sound fluent and natural if you found this be helpful please hit the like button share it with your friends and of course subscribe and until next time happy studying all right awesome job adding this expression to your speech I can't wait to read your example sentences and I'll see you in my next video bye you

Channel: JForrest English

Views: 23,386

Rating: 4.9681277 out of 5

Keywords: to be supposed to, be supposed to, supposed to, how to use to be supposed to, how to use be supposed to correctly, what does supposed to mean in English

Id: A7I0PgtAfTg

Length: 9min 24sec (564 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 30 2019