guess
verb/ɡes/
/ɡes/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they guess | /ɡes/ /ɡes/ |
| he / she / it guesses | /ˈɡesɪz/ /ˈɡesɪz/ |
| past simple guessed | /ɡest/ /ɡest/ |
| past participle guessed | /ɡest/ /ɡest/ |
| -ing form guessing | /ˈɡesɪŋ/ /ˈɡesɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to try and give an answer or make a judgement about something without being sure of all the facts
- I don't really know. I'm just guessing.
- guess at something We can only guess at her reasons for leaving.
- guess + adv. He guessed right/wrong.
- guess (that)… I'd guess that she's about 30.
- guess where, who, etc… Can you guess where I've been?
- guess something Can you guess his age?
Express Yourself SpeculatingSpeculatingIn some exams, you have to talk about what you can see in a picture and speculate about the situation or a wider issue prompted by the picture. These are ways of saying what you think might be the case:- I think it's likely that these people know each other.
- I imagine she's his wife.
- They might be related.
- They could be friends or work colleagues.
- I would guess they've been waiting for some time.
- I guess that the car has broken down.
- I think this has probably happened before.
- It looks to me as though the woman is very angry.
- Perhaps there has been an accident.
- It may be that they're waiting for someone.
Extra ExamplesTopics Opinion and argumenta1, Doubt, guessing and certaintya1- I was only guessing at her age.
- If you think I'm lying, well guess again.
- That's not the answer. Guess again.
- We can only guess how fast a dinosaur might have run.
- What star sign are you? No, let me guess.
- We can't begin to guess his reasons.
- What did you get her for Christmas? Let me guess.
- How old do you think I am? Go on, guess!
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- correctly
- right
- incorrectly
- …
- can
- can only
- try to
- …
- at
- from
- could have guessed
- might have guessed
- should have guessed
- …
- [transitive, intransitive] to find the right answer to a question or the truth without knowing all the facts
- guess something She guessed the answer straight away.
- guess what, where, etc… You'll never guess what she told me.
- guess (that)… You would never guess (that) she had problems. She’s always so cheerful.
- So it was Rob who broke the window? I might have guessed!
- If I had to guess, I'd say she was the one responsible for this.
Extra Examples- If you haven't already guessed, I'm going out with Steve.
- It's not hard to guess where they went.
- Jane had guessed wrong about who was responsible for the fire.
- She guessed from his expression that he had not won.
- You'll never guess who I saw yesterday!
- an easily guessed password
- I guessed from John's expression that something was badly wrong.
- I guessed, rightly, that the keys would be under the doormat.
- If you can guess my age, I'll buy you a drink!
- It's not hard to guess who he's gone to see.
- You'll never guess where they've gone.
- You can probably guess how she reacted!
- It's impossible to guess what they might have been feeling.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- correctly
- right
- incorrectly
- …
- can
- can only
- try to
- …
- at
- from
- could have guessed
- might have guessed
- should have guessed
- …
- guess…![transitive] guess what, who, etc… used to show that you are going to say something surprising or exciting
- Guess what! He's asked me out!
- Guess who I've just seen!
Extra Examples- Guess how long it took me to get here.
- Guess who's here!
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- correctly
- right
- incorrectly
- …
- can
- can only
- try to
- …
- at
- from
- could have guessed
- might have guessed
- should have guessed
- …
- I guess[transitive, intransitive] guess (that)… (informal) to suppose that something is true or likely
- I guess (that) you’ll be looking for a new job now.
- I guess I'm just lucky.
- He didn't see me, I guess.
- ‘Are you ready to go?’ ‘Yeah, I guess so.’
- ‘They aren't coming, then?’ ‘I guess not.’
Extra Examples- ‘Do you really love her?’ ‘I guess so.’
- ‘Are you coming with us?’ ‘I guess so.’
- ‘Can I have another cookie?’ ‘I guess so, but that's the last one.’
- I guess you're mad at me.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- correctly
- right
- incorrectly
- …
- can
- can only
- try to
- …
- at
- from
- could have guessed
- might have guessed
- should have guessed
- …
Word OriginMiddle English: origin uncertain; perhaps from Dutch gissen, and probably related to get.
Idioms
See guess in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee guess in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishkeep somebody guessing
- (informal) to not tell somebody about your plans or what is going to happen next
- It's the kind of book that keeps you guessing right to the end.
Check pronunciation:
guess