Hypothetical questions for friends and couples, and what the answers show

A hypothetical question asks what someone would do in a situation that isn't real, and it usually starts with "what would you do if" or "if you could". They're good on a hike, on a long drive or over dinner, because nobody can get the answer wrong. The questions below are sorted by who you're asking, a friend, a partner, a group or grown-up family, and each set says what the answers tend to show.

An example: Nadia, Owen and June climb the same hill once a month. At the top they sit on one long flat rock, unwrap their sandwiches, and Nadia asks a what-if. Today it's this: "You find a key on this trail. It opens any one door in the world, once. Which door?" Owen points at the sky before she has finished. "The control room of the space station. Easy." June tilts her head and holds up one finger. "Wait. Does the owner of the door know? Can I give the key back afterward?" The two of them argue all the way down the hill. Nadia says the question is never the best part. The answers are, and so is how fast each friend gives one.

What turns a what-if into a good one

A good hypothetical has a clear setup, one twist that makes it hard, and room for a reason. "What would you do with a million dollars?" is fine, but many people have a stock answer ready. "You get a million dollars, and you have to give half of it away within a week to people you know. Who gets it?" makes people stop, and the answer says something real about them.

Three small rules keep the game fun:

• Answer the question as asked. Anyone can ask one thing about the rules, and then it's time to decide.
• Give one reason. The pick takes a second, and the reason is where you learn something.
• Anyone can pass. A question that lands too close to home can wait for another day.

Two fixed options make a different game, and these would you rather questions cover it. A what-if leaves the answer wide open, so people can still surprise you.

Fun and weird hypothetical questions to start with

Start light. These get people laughing, and they show how far someone lets their imagination run.

• If your pet could talk for one hour, what would it complain about first?
• If every sneeze swapped you with the nearest stranger, how would your week go?
• If you woke up as the best in the world at one useless skill, which skill would you want?
• If your town needed a new name and you had the only vote, what would you call it?
• If your fridge started leaving you notes, what would the first one say?

Some people answer in a sentence and laugh. Others build a whole world with rules and a map, and you can spot the planner and the dreamer before anything serious comes up.

Hypothetical questions for friends

These show how a friend thinks about loyalty, and whether they'd turn up with a plan or with a hug.

• If we swapped lives for a week, what would you be most nervous about me getting wrong?
• If our friendship had a best day so far, which day would you say it was?
• If I moved to the other side of the world tomorrow, what would you miss first?
• If we opened a little café together, who would do what, and who would give up first?
• If you found out something that would hurt me, would you tell me right away, wait, or never say?

The last one often starts a long talk, so leave time for it.

Hypothetical questions for couples

These show where your hopes line up and where you'll need to take turns.

• If we could live anywhere for one year, with everything sorted, where would we go?
• If we won a free week away, would you plan every day or leave it all blank?
• If we had to keep one tradition for the next fifty years, what would it be?
• If we swapped all our chores for a month, which one would you be happiest to hand me?
• If I became famous overnight, what would you want to change in our life, and what never?

For a boyfriend or girlfriend, keep a couple of lighter ones ready:

• If I turned into a cat for a day, what would you do with me?
• If you had to plan our date with only what's in your pockets right now, where would we go?

When an answer opens something bigger, these deep questions to ask your partner take it further.

Questions for a whole group

Crazy hypothetical questions are best with four or more people. They show the roles everyone already plays.

• If our group had to run a small hotel for a week, who cooks, who cleans and who talks to the guests?
• If we were snowed into a cabin for three days, who keeps everyone calm and who eats the snacks?
• If we started a band, what would it be called, and who would insist on the solo?
• If we had to cross the country by bike, who plans the route and who gets lost first?

Groups usually agree fast on who would get lost, and the laughter shows how well they know each other. The group can keep going with random questions to ask your friends.

Questions for grown-up family

With adult brothers and sisters, parents or grandparents, a what-if can open stories you've never heard.

• If you could give your twenty-year-old self one piece of advice, what would it be?
• If our family had a motto over the front door, what would it say?
• If you could have one more ordinary Sunday from any year of your life, which year?
• If we all lived on the same street, who would knock on whose door most?

These show what people carried from home and what they hope to pass on.

Deep and hard hypothetical questions

The hard ones set two good things against each other. Ask one, not five, and give it some quiet.

• If you could know the full truth about one thing in your life, but never tell anyone, would you want to know?
• If you could take back one thing you said, but you'd forget why you said it, would you?
• If you were promised a happy life that stayed completely ordinary, would you take the deal?
• If you could live your life again knowing everything you know now, would you change much?

For questions about time, luck and what a person even is, go on to these philosophy questions.

What each answer gives away

• Speed. A friend who answers in a second trusts their gut. A friend who asks about the rules first wants things fair and clear before they commit.
• Who appears in the answer. Some people put others in every answer ("I'd take my sister"). Some answer only for themselves.
• Safe or wild. One person always picks the careful path because calm matters to them. Another jumps because they want the better story.
• Fixing or feeling. Some turn any question into a plan. Others talk about how it would feel.

No answer here is better than another. The ones worth remembering are the surprises from people you thought you knew.

One question, eight types

Ask eight people this: "You get a year off with every bill paid and nobody needing you. What do you do?" Typeza sees personality type as part of how people answer. Eight of the 16 types:

• Ideator splits the year into twelve short lives, with a new city and a new hobby every month.
• Harmonizer wants a small house near water, slow breakfasts and friends to stay.
• Vitalizer plans a long trip with as many friends as will come, and a party at every stop.
• Analyst finally studies the subject that has nagged at him for years, and comes back with a theory of it.
• Dreamer waits for the moment that feels right before starting anything big, and won't be hurried into a plan.
• Entrepreneur has turned the year into a small business by March.
• Guardian spends it near the people she trusts, after asking who is offering the year and why.
• Craftsman builds something real with his hands, like a boat or a table, and finishes it.

These are tendencies, and plenty of people mix two. June's question about the owner of the door is a lot like the Guardian's.

See what you and a friend make together

Typeza shows two friends how they get along and the relationship type they make, from easy days to the spots where they rub. The free friendship compatibility test is the first step, and then you invite your friend to see it with you.

Questions people ask

What is an example of a hypothetical question?

"If you found a key that opened any one door in the world, once, which door would you open?" It sets up a situation that isn't real and asks what you would do in it.

How is a hypothetical question different from a would you rather question?

A would you rather question offers two fixed choices. A hypothetical question sets up a situation and leaves the answer open.

Written by Virko Kask, founder of Typeza
Written with the help of AI tools.