be supposed to

English

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /bi(ː) səˈpoʊs ˌtu/ (stressed)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /bi(ː) səˈpoʊs tə/ (unstressed)

Verb

be supposed to (third-person singular simple present is supposed to, present participle being supposed to, simple past was supposed to, past participle been supposed to)

1. (idiomatic) To be required to, ought to, expected to

   I am supposed to report to the police every week.

   Paul is supposed to call his mother every day.

2. (idiomatic, with not) To be permitted to.

   I am not supposed to smoke there.

3. (idiomatic, in interrogative or similar situations) To be expected to; to be capable of (used to indicate that an expectation is impossible or unreasonable in the context).

   How am I supposed to work in all this racket?

   What was he supposed to do—just sit there and do nothing?

4. (idiomatic) To intended to; to be expected to; to believed to.

   It's supposed to rain.

   The thief is supposed to be hiding in the forest.

Usage notes

• Followed by an obligatory bare infinitive.
• Often implies that the opposite is a strong possibility.

Synonyms

• (required): be meant to (UK)

Translations

Required to

• French: être censé
• Galician: suponse que
• German: sollen (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: måtte (no)

• Polish: mieć (pl), powinien (pl)
• Spanish: tener que, haber de (es), deber (es), se supone que (es)

Believed to

• German: sollen (de)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: gå for, skulle (no)

References

• “be supposed to”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.