foresee

Everyday

To foresee something is to know or guess that it will happen before it does. tree →

In the lessons

In everyday life, planning means trying to foresee problems (rain on sports day, traffic jams). In safety lessons, a risk assessment means foreseeing dangers. In stories, fortune-tellers and prophets claim to foresee the future. Phrases: «foresee a problem», «could not have foreseen», «as far as I can foresee».

Examples

• Nobody could foresee the storm. tree →
• Do you foresee any problems with the plan? tree →
• The teacher foresaw that the trip would be muddy and told us to bring boots. tree →
• In the story, the witch foresaw the king's fall. tree →
• We couldn't have foreseen the road being closed. tree →
• Good planners foresee what might go wrong. tree →
• “Oh! no, do not go, for if you go home to the King’s palace you will forget me, I foresee that.” tree →

Note

Irregular: foresee, foresaw, foreseen (like see, saw, seen). Adjective: foreseeable («in the foreseeable future» = as far ahead as we can guess). Noun: foresight. Spelling: fore- (before), not «forsee».