Why do I need to know Assomption?

Because don’t assume you know what it means.

What does it mean?

You’ll see l’Assomption – roughly pronounced as lah-somp-sion – a lot at this time of year. It refers to the Christian festival marking the day when the Virgin Mary ascended into heaven. In English the festival is known as Assumption or ‘the Assumption of the Virgin Mary’.

And references to the August 15th festival – which is a public holiday in France, hence even non-Christians getting excited about it – are pretty much all that this word is used for in day-to-day French chat.

What doesn’t it mean?

If you want to refer to ‘making an assumption’ in everyday life – ie coming to a conclusion without evidence – you would use the French words supposition or perhaps hypothèse. Both these words refer to something that you think is true, but you aren’t sure or lack evidence.

Supposer – to assume – is a classic ‘er’ verb, but if you want to talk about ‘making an assumption’ you use the verb faire eg il fait une supposition (he makes an assumption).

You can also use the verbs présumer (to presume something) or imaginer (to guess) if you want to say that you think something is correct but you aren’t completely sure.

For example

J’ai supposé que le magasin serait ouvert le dimanche, mais je me suis trompé – I assumed that the shop would be open on Sundays, but I was wrong.

Supposer, c’est stupide – It’s stupid to assume.

But what about the French verb ‘assumer’?

This is a classic faux ami (false friend) and doesn’t mean assuming at all, it in fact means to admit or to accept something.

You might hear people using it to take responsibility for something, especially something controversial or unpopular. 

Macron: J’assume totalement la réforme des retraits – Macron: I take total responsibility for the pension reform.

The other context you hear it in is someone taking pride in something or ‘owning’ it in the non-physical sense.

Je suis gay et je l’assume – I’m gay and I’m proud.