Spoze-to

In my last blog post, I talked about “chunking.” Another very useful language chunk is the phrase:

Spoze-to

That’s the way it sounds, but it’s really spelled “supposed to.” And if you use it correctly, it can help you sound a lot more fluent.

Many English learners use should when a native speaker would use supposed to. For example:

The man should take a class on Shakespeare next semester, but he has a conflict in his schedule.

There’s nothing absolutely wrong with this sentence, but it’s not how native speakers would say it. Instead, they’d say:

The man’s supposed to take a class on Shakespeare next semester, but he has a conflict in his schedule.

What’s the difference?

Should is used to indicate a general requirement or obligation. For example:

Everyone should go to the dentist once a year.

You should brush your teeth twice a day.

Should I send an email or a letter?

Supposed to can be used in the same sense, but it’s often used when you’re talking about a more specific occasion OR, as in the example above, when there’s a conflict and you can’t do something you were planning to do. So, for example:

He’s supposed to come to my house tonight.

I’m supposed to go to the dentist tomorrow, but the bus isn’t running.

However, when you are using should and supposed to in negative terms, they are usually interchangeable.

I shouldn’t tell you this because it’s a secret. (I’m not supposed to tell you …)

You’re not supposed to smoke here in the restaurant. (You shouldn’t smoke …)

Finally, we often use supposed to for something that is believed in a general sense. For example:

Chinese is supposed to be the most difficult language to learn.

It’s not supposed to snow tonight.