suspecter — French conjugation

to suspect

Frequency#621Regular

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
jesuspecteI suspect
tususpectesyou suspect
il/ellesuspectehe/she/it suspects
noussuspectonswe suspect
voussuspectezyou (pl.) suspect
ils/ellessuspectentthey 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
jesuspectaiI suspected
tususpectasyou suspected
il/ellesuspectahe/she/it suspected
noussuspectâmeswe suspected
voussuspectâtesyou (pl.) suspected
ils/ellessuspectèrentthey 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
jesuspectais
tususpectais
il/ellesuspectait
noussuspections
voussuspectiez
ils/ellessuspectaient

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
jesuspecteraisI would suspect
tususpecteraisyou would suspect
il/ellesuspecteraithe/she/it would suspect
noussuspecterionswe would suspect
voussuspecteriezyou (pl.) would suspect
ils/ellessuspecteraientthey 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
jesuspecteraiI will suspect
tususpecterasyou will suspect
il/ellesuspecterahe/she/it will suspect
noussuspecteronswe will suspect
voussuspecterezyou (pl.) will suspect
ils/ellessuspecterontthey 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 suspectéI have suspected
tutu as suspectéyou have suspected
il/elleil/elle a suspectéhe/she/it has suspected
nousnous avons suspectéwe have suspected
vousvous avez suspectéyou (pl.) have suspected
ils/ellesils/elles ont suspectéthey 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 suspectéI had suspected
tutu avais suspectéyou had suspected
il/elleil/elle avait suspectéhe/she/it had suspected
nousnous avions suspectéwe had suspected
vousvous aviez suspectéyou (pl.) had suspected
ils/ellesils/elles avaient suspectéthey 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 suspecté
tutu aurais suspecté
il/elleil/elle aurait suspecté
nousnous aurions suspecté
vousvous auriez suspecté
ils/ellesils/elles auraient suspecté

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 suspectéI will have suspected
tutu auras suspectéyou will have suspected
il/elleil/elle aura suspectéhe/she/it will have suspected
nousnous aurons suspectéwe will have suspected
vousvous aurez suspectéyou (pl.) will have suspected
ils/ellesils/elles auront suspectéthey 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
jesuspecte
tususpectes
il/ellesuspecte
noussuspections
voussuspectiez
ils/ellessuspectent

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
jesuspectasse
tususpectasses
il/ellesuspectât
noussuspectassions
voussuspectassiez
ils/ellessuspectassent

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
tususpecte
noussuspectons
voussuspectez