supposer — French conjugation

to suppose

Frequency#837Regular

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
jesupposeI suppose
tusupposesyou suppose
il/ellesupposehe/she/it supposes
noussupposonswe suppose
voussupposezyou (pl.) suppose
ils/ellessupposentthey suppose

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
jesupposaiI supposed
tusupposasyou supposed
il/ellesupposahe/she/it supposed
noussupposâmeswe supposed
voussupposâtesyou (pl.) supposed
ils/ellessupposèrentthey supposed

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
jesupposais
tusupposais
il/ellesupposait
noussupposions
voussupposiez
ils/ellessupposaient

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
jesupposeraisI would suppose
tusupposeraisyou would suppose
il/ellesupposeraithe/she/it would suppose
noussupposerionswe would suppose
voussupposeriezyou (pl.) would suppose
ils/ellessupposeraientthey would suppose

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
jesupposeraiI will suppose
tusupposerasyou will suppose
il/ellesupposerahe/she/it will suppose
noussupposeronswe will suppose
voussupposerezyou (pl.) will suppose
ils/ellessupposerontthey will suppose

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 supposéI have supposed
tutu as supposéyou have supposed
il/elleil/elle a supposéhe/she/it has supposed
nousnous avons supposéwe have supposed
vousvous avez supposéyou (pl.) have supposed
ils/ellesils/elles ont supposéthey have supposed

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 supposéI had supposed
tutu avais supposéyou had supposed
il/elleil/elle avait supposéhe/she/it had supposed
nousnous avions supposéwe had supposed
vousvous aviez supposéyou (pl.) had supposed
ils/ellesils/elles avaient supposéthey had supposed

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 supposé
tutu aurais supposé
il/elleil/elle aurait supposé
nousnous aurions supposé
vousvous auriez supposé
ils/ellesils/elles auraient supposé

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 supposéI will have supposed
tutu auras supposéyou will have supposed
il/elleil/elle aura supposéhe/she/it will have supposed
nousnous aurons supposéwe will have supposed
vousvous aurez supposéyou (pl.) will have supposed
ils/ellesils/elles auront supposéthey will have supposed

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
jesuppose
tusupposes
il/ellesuppose
noussupposions
voussupposiez
ils/ellessupposent

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
jesupposasse
tusupposasses
il/ellesupposât
noussupposassions
voussupposassiez
ils/ellessupposassent

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
tusuppose
noussupposons
voussupposez