soupçonner — French conjugation

to suspect (have a suspicion)

Frequency#29Regular

Indicative

Present (Présent) Regular

Use the présent for habits, what is true now, and what is about to happen soon. A single set of endings covers what English often splits into “I speak” and “I am speaking”.

Elle parle arabe et français.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jesoupçonneI suspect
tusoupçonnesyou suspect
il/ellesoupçonnehe/she/it suspects
noussoupçonnonswe suspect
voussoupçonnezyou (pl.) suspect
ils/ellessoupçonnentthey suspect

Simple past (Passé simple) Regular

The passé simple narrates completed past events in a literary or very formal style. In everyday conversation people use the passé composé instead, so you mostly meet this form in books and journalism.

Ils virent le roi s'approcher.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jesoupçonnaiI suspected
tusoupçonnasyou suspected
il/ellesoupçonnahe/she/it suspected
noussoupçonnâmeswe suspected
voussoupçonnâtesyou (pl.) suspected
ils/ellessoupçonnèrentthey suspected

Imperfect (Imparfait) Regular

The imparfait describes ongoing or repeated past actions and sets the background — how things were, what used to happen, weather, feelings. The passé composé, by contrast, marks single completed events.

Quand j'étais petit, j'allais souvent à la piscine.

PronounFrench
jesoupçonnais
tusoupçonnais
il/ellesoupçonnait
noussoupçonnions
voussoupçonniez
ils/ellessoupçonnaient

Conditional (Conditionnel) Regular

The conditionnel is for polite questions and requests, “would”-type hypotheticals, and what someone said would happen. It is also the usual consequent clause in si + imparfait → conditionnel patterns.

Pourriez-vous répéter, s'il vous plaît ?

PronounFrenchEnglish
jesoupçonneraisI would suspect
tusoupçonneraisyou would suspect
il/ellesoupçonneraithe/she/it would suspect
noussoupçonnerionswe would suspect
voussoupçonneriezyou (pl.) would suspect
ils/ellessoupçonneraientthey would suspect

Future (Futur) Regular

The futur is for future plans and objective predictions. In speech, aller + infinitive is often clearer for the immediate future, while the simple future is common for facts further ahead or in writing.

Demain, nous dînerons chez eux.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jesoupçonneraiI will suspect
tusoupçonnerasyou will suspect
il/ellesoupçonnerahe/she/it will suspect
noussoupçonneronswe will suspect
voussoupçonnerezyou (pl.) will suspect
ils/ellessoupçonnerontthey will suspect

Present perfect (Passé composé) Regular

The passé composé is the main spoken past for completed, bounded actions (often with a time adverb). Use avoir with most verbs; être is required for a fixed group of motion/inchange and all pronominal verbs, with participle agreement when necessary.

Elle est venue tôt, puis elle a téléphoné.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'ai soupçonnéI have suspected
tutu as soupçonnéyou have suspected
il/elleil/elle a soupçonnéhe/she/it has suspected
nousnous avons soupçonnéwe have suspected
vousvous avez soupçonnéyou (pl.) have suspected
ils/ellesils/elles ont soupçonnéthey have suspected

Pluperfect (Plus-que-parfait) Regular

The plus-que-parfait is the “earlier past”: one action was already over before another past moment. It answers “had already” when a story is anchored in a past time.

Déjà, il avait fini quand je suis arrivé.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'avais soupçonnéI had suspected
tutu avais soupçonnéyou had suspected
il/elleil/elle avait soupçonnéhe/she/it had suspected
nousnous avions soupçonnéwe had suspected
vousvous aviez soupçonnéyou (pl.) had suspected
ils/ellesils/elles avaient soupçonnéthey had suspected

Conditional perfect (Conditionnel passé) Regular

The conditionnel passé states what would have been true, plans that failed, and unreal past if-clauses (often with si + plus-que-parfait in the apodose).

J'aurais dit oui, mais c'était impossible.

PronounFrench
jej'aurais soupçonné
tutu aurais soupçonné
il/elleil/elle aurait soupçonné
nousnous aurions soupçonné
vousvous auriez soupçonné
ils/ellesils/elles auraient soupçonné

Future perfect (Futur antérieur) Regular

The futur antérieur marks an action that will be finished before a later future moment (by then I will have…). It can also suggest a conjecture about a recent past fact in formal or literary use.

D'ici samedi, j'aurai lu le rapport.

PronounFrenchEnglish
jej'aurai soupçonnéI will have suspected
tutu auras soupçonnéyou will have suspected
il/elleil/elle aura soupçonnéhe/she/it will have suspected
nousnous aurons soupçonnéwe will have suspected
vousvous aurez soupçonnéyou (pl.) will have suspected
ils/ellesils/elles auront soupçonnéthey will have suspected

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjonctif présent) Regular

The present subjunctive appears in subordinate clauses after desire, doubt, fear, need, and many impersonals, usually when the subject of the subordinate is different. Learn common triggers: il faut que, je veux que, je doute que…

Il faut qu'il parte avant midi.

PronounFrench
jesoupçonne
tusoupçonnes
il/ellesoupçonne
noussoupçonnions
voussoupçonniez
ils/ellessoupçonnent

Imperfect subjunctive (Subjonctif imparfait) Regular

The imparfait du subjonctif is a literary and formal past subjunctive. In modern speech, the present subjunctive usually replaces it for the same meaning.

Bien qu'il fût fatigué, il continua.

PronounFrench
jesoupçonnasse
tusoupçonnasses
il/ellesoupçonnât
noussoupçonnassions
voussoupçonnassiez
ils/ellessoupçonnassent

Other forms

Imperative (Impératif) Regular

The imperative is for direct orders and advice to tu, nous, and vous. For many -er verbs, the tu form drops the final -s of the present (parle!); negatives use the subjunctive-like forms in practice.

Fermons la porte, s'il vous plaît !

PronounFrench
tusoupçonne
noussoupçonnons
voussoupçonnez