supposing

if

Conditional clause marker

• assumingAccepting as true unverified
• providedSupplied or given
• givenAccepted as fact

unless · granted · in case · on condition · providing · whenever · whether · should · were · contingent

what if

Words introducing a hypothesis

• imagineForm mental pictures
• assumeAccept as true
• conjectureGuess from limited facts

presumption · postulation · scenario · possibility · speculation · thought experiment · theoretically · say · let's say · pretend

guess

Estimate without certainty

• surmiseGuess from incomplete information
• suspectBelieve to be likely
• reckonBelieve or estimate

fancy · believe · presume · infer · deduce · conclude · reason · figure · gather · deem

• speculationconjecture, guess, guessing, speculation, hypothesis
• conjecturinghypothesizing, theorizing, speculating, conjecturing, surmising
• subordinatorsthat, if, because, although, though
• certaintycertain, sure, uncertain, unsure, definite
• thinkingthinking, reasoning, thought, ponder, contemplate
• mental statesknowledge, conscious, mood, anxious, memory