Grammar lessons from Barbie: supposed to
This speech from the Barbie movie, about the difficulties of being a woman, is being quoted everywhere at the moment.
Disclaimer: I went to see the movie with my 2 sisters and 3 teenage boys, who agreed that it's just as difficult and confusing to be a man.
Anyway, here's the speech, which I thought was useful from a language learning point of view (the language of rules, commands and modal verbs).
Scroll down for more practise with today's focus: 'supposed to'
"It is literally impossible to be a woman."
👸 We're always supposed to be extraordinary, but somehow we're always doing it wrong.
👩🍼You’re supposed to love being a mom, but don’t talk about your kids all the time!
💄 You're expected to keep yourself pretty, but not so pretty you threaten other women… because you're supposed to be part of the sisterhood. 👗 We have to be skinny, but not too much and you must not say you want to be skinny. You must say you want a healthy weight, but also… YES you have to be skinny. 👛 You must have money, but you can’t ask for money because that would be rude. 🦸♀️ You gotta be a boss, but you can't be tough.
🧚♀️ You must lead, but you cannot crush other people’s ideas. 👩💼You have to be a professional, but you should also always take care of everyone else.
💃 You must always stand out and always be very grateful… but never forget the system is fixed, so find how to acknowledge it but remember to be grateful. 👵 You must never grow old, never be rude, never show off, never be selfish, never stumble, never fail or show fear and, of course, you must never be sassy. "It's very hard, it's too contradictory and nobody gives you a medal or says thank you. And it turns out, in fact, that not only are you doing everything WRONG, but also, everything that happens is YOUR FAULT." - America Ferrera as Gloria Barbie (2023)
SUPPOSED TO
'Supposed to' acts like a model verb and can have the same meaning as have to (obligation) and (not) allowed to (permission)
e.g. 'You're supposed to be in bed by 10.00'
'You're not supposed to smoke in the dining area'.
However, it has other meanings and uses.
1. It is used to indicate what people say about someone or something
e.g. 'This movie is supposed to be good' (= I'm expecting it to be good because all the reviews said it was good)
2. It is used to say what someone should do e.g. 'Women are supposed to love being a mom'.
3. It is used to say what you expect to happen e.g. 'It's supposed to rain this afternoon'.
4. to be intended or expected to be something e.g. 'This party was supposed to be a surprise'.
Pronunciation (Fast Speech)
/səˈpəʊstə/
In fast speech the 'd' becomes silent because it's next to a 't'. (Members - review Dropped Sounds)
In very fast speech you may only hear 'spostuh'.
