Meaning & use
false assumptions
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Meaning
nounplural
Beliefs that people accept as true without checking, but which are actually wrong.
Grammar: Always plural in this phrase; the singular is 'a false assumption'.
Patterns
- make false assumptions about someone/something
- based on false assumptions
- challenge false assumptions
The report was based on false assumptions about how much people earn.
Teachers should not make false assumptions about what students already know.
Many false assumptions about the disease were corrected by later research.
Common combinations
- make false assumptions
- It is easy to make false assumptions when you first meet someone.
- based on false assumptions
- Their conclusion was based on false assumptions and had to be revised.
- challenge false assumptions
- Good scientists challenge false assumptions rather than accepting them.
- false assumptions about
- There are many false assumptions about what life in another country is like.
Synonyms and how they differ
- misconceptions
- A misconception is a wrong idea that someone believes; it often comes from misunderstanding, while a false assumption is something taken for granted without proof.
- myths
- A myth is a widely held but false belief; it is often used for popular ideas, whereas false assumptions are more general and can be personal.
Opposites
Word family
- assume verb
- To think something is true without having proof.
- assumption noun
- A belief that something is true without proof.
- assumed adjective
- Accepted as true without being proved.
Commonly confused: false assumptions or false pretenses?
false assumptions vs false pretenses
False pretenses means deceiving someone by pretending to be something you are not, often for money; it is a legal term and not the same as false assumptions.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'false assumptions' correctly?
Choose one answer.
The phrase is plural and needs a plural verb or matching article; option 2 uses it correctly. Option 1 uses 'a' with a plural noun, option 3 uses it as a verb, and option 4 uses a singular verb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “false assumptions”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.