Presuppositions
To refresh you memory of presupposition,
you can
* click here to go back to the section on pragmatics
* and here to listen to the podcast "Synonymy, presupposition and entailment".
How Presuppositions Are Used:
- adjectives, particularly comparative ones. "A future Conservative Government will introduce a fairer funding formula for schools" (Conservative Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green, 16 March 2003)
this presupposes that the current funding system is not fair
- possessives "You will never hear me apologising for highlighting Labour's failures time and time again" (Iain Duncan Smith, Leader of the British Conservative Party, 16 March 2003)
this presupposes that the Labour Party has failed
- questions instead of statements "Is it not now time for him to ensure that his Government get control of the situation in Belfast?" (David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party addressing Prime Minister Tony Blair in Parliament on 3 July 2002)
this presupposes that the government does not have control of the situation