We talked mainly about the verb immaginare in part 1 of this lesson, and now we'll focus on supporre. 

In our first example, supporre is easily interchangeable with immaginare, both in Italian and in English.

Buongiorno a Lei, signora Baudino. Cercava me, suppongo. Prego. -Grazie, sì.

Good morning to you, Missus Baudino. You were looking for me, I suppose. Please come in. -Yes, thank you.

Captions 5-7, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 5

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In the next example, on the other hand, supporre is a bit more nuanced and we have translated it with "to assume." We're not really imagining here, we are making an assumption based on evidence, or reasoning. However, the speaker could easily have used immaginare if he had been trying to conjure up the past. The important thing to keep in mind is that "to assume" is one way to translate supporre." Another Italian verb could work here, too: ipotizzare (to hypothesize). It's used quite frequently in ordinary conversation. 

Per questo motivo, possiamo supporre che proprio in questo momento, i conservatori abbiano chiamato il loro miglior pittore ad eseguire sulla parete dell'Arengario, eh, quella Resurrezione che diverrà il simbolo identitario della città.

For this reason, we can assume that right at this moment, the conservators had called their finest painter to execute, on the wall of the Arengario, uh, that Resurrection which will become the iconic symbol of the city.

Captions 49-53, La pittura più bella del mondo La Resurrezione di Piero della Francesca - Part 13

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In this next example, supporre doesn't seem to be interchangeable with immaginare, because we're talking about a supposition based on something concrete.

Questo perché la testimonianza della tua amica Camilla, ti fa supporre che la signora Predolin sia una vittima innocente.

This is because the account of your friend Camilla causes  you to assume that Missus Predolin is an innocent victim.

Captions 105-106, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 13

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We translated it with "to assume," but it could also be "to presume," another possible translation of immaginare.

In English, we can use the imperative of "to suppose" as in: "Suppose I were to ask you on a date. Would you say yes?" In Italian, we'd likely use the first person plural: Supponiamo (let's suppose).

Adesso supponiamo che stai passeggiando per strada e un passante ti chiede: "Mi scusi, mi potrebbe dire, per favore, che ore sono?".

Now, let's suppose you're walking down the street and a passerby asks you: "Excuse me, could you please tell me what time it is?"

Captions 28-30, Marika spiega 18 Modi di dire Sì senza dire Sì

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We hope that you have a greater understanding of the verbs immaginare and supporre and when (and how) they are used.

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You might already know the adjective raro and the adverb raramente. These are true cognates of "rare" and "rarely" in English. 

But there is another way to say this. Let's look at a couple of passages from a recent segment of  Provaci ancora prof!

Semmai, ogni tanto prendere qualche sonnifero per dormire, ma insomma, raramente.

If anything, every now and then he takes some sleeping pills to sleep, but well, rarely.

Captions 35-36, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 5

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Camilla is talking to the doctor upstairs about sleeping pills. She pretends it's about Renzo.  

Se proprio è una nottataccia due, ma, insomma, di rado, come Le ho detto.

If it's really a bad night, two, but, well, rarely, as I told you.

Captions 42-43, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 5

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He takes up her wording to comment:  

Gli impedisca di prenderli, signora, anche di rado.

Stop him from taking them ma'am, even rarely.

Captions 44-45, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 5

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Interestingly, the adjective rado is used to mean "sparse," especially when talking about physical distance, such as, for example, between plants in a garden. In the present context, we are talking about distancing in time. 

Here's another example of di rado. Yabla offers a documentary, produced by RAI about the important Italian post-war chef, Gualtiero Marchesi, who died in 2017. He was a pioneer of modern Italian cuisine. The documentary, which appeared in episodes on Italian TV, opens with what must be a passage from his own writings, narrated by someone who spee

Qui sono cresciuto, tra queste terre e queste acque. Tornando, ahimè sempre più di rado, mi sembra di riconoscere scorci e luoghi come se poco o nulla fosse cambiato.

I grew up here, in the midst of these lands and these waters. Coming back more and more infrequently, alas, I think I recognize views and places, as if little or nothing had changed.

Captions 12-15, L'arte della cucina Terre d'Acqua - Part 1

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And the adjective rado calls to mind the verb radere (to shave). It's also the first-person singular of this irregular verb.