sospechar — Spanish conjugation

to suspect

Frequency#199Regular

Indicative

Present (Presente) Regular

The present tense is the most versatile tense in Spanish. It covers actions happening right now, habitual actions, and even near-future plans. One form does the work of three English constructions.

Ella habla inglés — She speaks / is speaking English

PronounSpanishEnglish
yosospechoI suspect
sospechasyou suspect
vossospechásyou suspect
él/ella/Ud.sospechahe/she/it suspects
nosotrossospechamoswe suspect
vosotrossospecháisyou (pl.) suspect
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospechanthey suspect

Preterite (Pretérito indefinido) Regular

Used for completed past actions with a defined endpoint — a single event, a series of events, or an action that interrupted another. Common with time expressions like ayer, el lunes, una vez.

Ella habló de ti ayer — She spoke about you yesterday

PronounSpanishEnglish
yosospechéI suspected
sospechasteyou suspected
vossospechasteyou suspected
él/ella/Ud.sospechóhe/she/it suspected
nosotrossospechamoswe suspected
vosotrossospechasteisyou (pl.) suspected
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospecharonthey suspected

Imperfect (Pretérito imperfecto) Regular

Describes ongoing or habitual past states — what things were like, background context, what used to happen. Contrasts with the preterite which marks completed events.

Cuando era niño vivía en Valencia — When I was a child I lived in Valencia

PronounSpanish
yosospechaba
sospechabas
vossospechabas
él/ella/Ud.sospechaba
nosotrossospechábamos
vosotrossospechabais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospechaban

Conditional (Condicional) Regular

Expresses hypothetical actions, polite requests, and what would happen under certain conditions. Also used for reported speech about the future from a past perspective.

¿Podrías ayudarme? — Could you help me?

PronounSpanishEnglish
yosospecharíaI would suspect
sospecharíasyou would suspect
vossospecharíasyou would suspect
él/ella/Ud.sospecharíahe/she/it would suspect
nosotrossospecharíamoswe would suspect
vosotrossospecharíaisyou (pl.) would suspect
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospecharíanthey would suspect

Future (Futuro) Regular

Expresses future actions, predictions, and probability about the present. Formed with the full infinitive as stem for most verbs. In spoken Spanish, ir a + infinitive is often preferred for near future.

Ella hablará en conferencia mañana — She will speak at the conference tomorrow

PronounSpanishEnglish
yosospecharéI will suspect
sospecharásyou will suspect
vossospecharásyou will suspect
él/ella/Ud.sospecharáhe/she/it will suspect
nosotrossospecharemoswe will suspect
vosotrossospecharéisyou (pl.) will suspect
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospecharánthey will suspect

Present perfect (Pretérito perfecto) Regular

A compound past tense linking a past action to the present moment — something that has happened and still feels recent or relevant. More common in Spain than Latin America where preterite is preferred.

Hoy he hablado con el jefe — Today I have spoken with the boss

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohe sospechadoI have suspected
has sospechadoyou have suspected
voshas sospechadoyou have suspected
él/ella/Ud.ha sospechadohe/she/it has suspected
nosotroshemos sospechadowe have suspected
vosotroshabéis sospechadoyou (pl.) have suspected
ellos/ellas/Uds.han sospechadothey have suspected

Pluperfect (Pretérito pluscuamperfecto) Regular

The past of the past — describes an action that was already completed before another past event happened. Always implies a reference point in the past.

Ya había hablado cuando llegaste — She had already spoken when you arrived

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabía sospechadoI had suspected
habías sospechadoyou had suspected
voshabías sospechadoyou had suspected
él/ella/Ud.había sospechadohe/she/it had suspected
nosotroshabíamos sospechadowe had suspected
vosotroshabíais sospechadoyou (pl.) had suspected
ellos/ellas/Uds.habían sospechadothey had suspected

Conditional perfect (Condicional perfecto) Regular

Expresses what would have happened — actions that were possible but did not occur, or regrets about the past. Formed with conditional of haber + past participle.

Habría hablado, pero no me dejaron — I would have spoken, but they did not let me

PronounSpanish
yohabría sospechado
habrías sospechado
voshabrías sospechado
él/ella/Ud.habría sospechado
nosotroshabríamos sospechado
vosotroshabríais sospechado
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrían sospechado

Future perfect (Futuro perfecto) Regular

Describes an action that will have been completed by a certain point in the future, or expresses probability about a recent past action.

Para el lunes habré terminado — By Monday I will have finished

PronounSpanishEnglish
yohabré sospechadoI will have suspected
habrás sospechadoyou will have suspected
voshabrás sospechadoyou will have suspected
él/ella/Ud.habrá sospechadohe/she/it will have suspected
nosotroshabremos sospechadowe will have suspected
vosotroshabréis sospechadoyou (pl.) will have suspected
ellos/ellas/Uds.habrán sospechadothey will have suspected

Subjunctive

Present subjunctive (Subjuntivo presente) Regular

Used in subordinate clauses after expressions of desire, doubt, emotion, necessity, or impersonal statements. Triggered by a change of subject between the main and subordinate clause.

Espero que hable — I hope she speaks

PronounSpanish
yosospeche
sospeches
vossospeches
él/ella/Ud.sospeche
nosotrossospechemos
vosotrossospechéis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospechen

Imperfect subjunctive (-ra) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-ra)) Regular

The past subjunctive used after past main verbs, in if-clauses with conditional, and for polite softening. The -ra form is more common in everyday speech than the -se form.

Si pudiera, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yosospechara
sospecharas
vossospecharas
él/ella/Ud.sospechara
nosotrossospecháramos
vosotrossospecharais
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospecharan

Imperfect subjunctive (-se) (Subjuntivo imperfecto (-se)) Regular

The alternative past subjunctive form. Interchangeable with -ra in most contexts but slightly more literary or formal. Both forms are grammatically correct in all regions.

Si pudiese, lo haría — If I could, I would do it

PronounSpanish
yosospechase
sospechases
vossospechases
él/ella/Ud.sospechase
nosotrossospechásemos
vosotrossospechaseis
ellos/ellas/Uds.sospechasen

Perfect subjunctive (Pretérito perfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

A compound subjunctive that expresses completed actions in a subjunctive context — used after present or future main verbs expressing doubt, emotion or desire.

Dudo que ya haya llegado — I doubt she has already arrived

PronounSpanish
yohaya sospechado
hayas sospechado
voshayas sospechado
él/ella/Ud.haya sospechado
nosotroshayamos sospechado
vosotroshayáis sospechado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hayan sospechado

Pluperfect subjunctive (Pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo) Regular

Expresses what had happened in hypothetical or unreal past contexts — the subjunctive equivalent of the pluperfect. Common in contrary-to-fact past conditions.

Si hubiera hablado, lo habrían creído — If she had spoken, they would have believed her

PronounSpanish
yohubiera sospechado
hubieras sospechado
voshubieras sospechado
él/ella/Ud.hubiera sospechado
nosotroshubiéramos sospechado
vosotroshubierais sospechado
ellos/ellas/Uds.hubieran sospechado

Other forms

Imperative (affirmative) (Imperativo afirmativo) Regular

Direct commands and instructions. The imperative only exists for tú, usted, nosotros, vosotros and ustedes — yo has no command form. Affirmative and negative forms use different conjugations.

Habla más despacio — Speak more slowly

PronounSpanish
sospecha
vossospechá
él/ella/Ud.sospeche
nosotrossospechemos
vosotrossospechad
ustedessospechen

Imperative (negative) (Imperativo negativo) Regular

Negative commands use the subjunctive forms for all persons. Formed with no + present subjunctive. This applies to all persons including tú where the affirmative uses a different form.

No hables tan rápido — Do not speak so fast

PronounSpanish
no sospeches
vosno sospeches
él/ella/Ud.no sospeche
nosotrosno sospechemos
vosotrosno sospechéis
ustedesno sospechen

Present progressive (Presente progresivo) Regular

Emphasises that an action is happening right now at this very moment. Less common than in English since the present tense already covers ongoing actions in Spanish.

Estoy hablando contigo — I am speaking with you

PronounSpanish
yoestoy sospechando
estás sospechando
vosestás sospechando
él/ella/Ud.está sospechando
nosotrosestamos sospechando
vosotrosestáis sospechando
ellos/ellas/Uds.están sospechando

Preterite progressive (Pretérito indefinido progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that was in progress throughout a completed past period. Uses the preterite of estar + gerund to emphasise the ongoing nature within a defined timeframe.

Estuvo hablando toda la tarde — He was talking all afternoon

PronounSpanish
yoestuve sospechando
estuviste sospechando
vosestuviste sospechando
él/ella/Ud.estuvo sospechando
nosotrosestuvimos sospechando
vosotrosestuvisteis sospechando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estuvieron sospechando

Imperfect progressive (Pretérito imperfecto progresivo) Regular

Emphasises an ongoing background action using the imperfect of estar + gerund. Layered on top of the imperfect which already conveys continuity — used for extra emphasis on the progressive nature.

Estaba hablando cuando entró — I was speaking when he came in

PronounSpanish
yoestaba sospechando
estabas sospechando
vosestabas sospechando
él/ella/Ud.estaba sospechando
nosotrosestábamos sospechando
vosotrosestabais sospechando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estaban sospechando

Conditional progressive (Condicional progresivo) Regular

Expresses what would be in progress under hypothetical conditions. Uses the conditional of estar + gerund. Less common but used for emphasis on the ongoing nature of a hypothetical action.

Estaría hablando ahora si pudiera — I would be speaking now if I could

PronounSpanish
yoestaría sospechando
estarías sospechando
vosestarías sospechando
él/ella/Ud.estaría sospechando
nosotrosestaríamos sospechando
vosotrosestaríais sospechando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarían sospechando

Future progressive (Futuro progresivo) Regular

Describes an action that will be in progress at a future point, or expresses probability about an ongoing present action. Uses the future of estar + gerund.

Mañana a esta hora estaré viajando — At this time tomorrow I will be travelling

PronounSpanish
yoestaré sospechando
estarás sospechando
vosestarás sospechando
él/ella/Ud.estará sospechando
nosotrosestaremos sospechando
vosotrosestaréis sospechando
ellos/ellas/Uds.estarán sospechando