Conjugations
All six tenses and their examples are shown below. Use the links above to jump to a tense. English translations use the meaning “to assume.”
Present Présent
Habits, current states, and actions happening now.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suppose | I assume | |
| tu | supposes | you assume | |
| il / elle / on | suppose | he / she / it assumeson: we assume / one assumes | |
| nous | supposons | we assume | |
| vous | supposez | you assume | |
| ils / elles | supposent | they assume |
IN A SENTENCEPresent example
Paul suppose l'existence d'un passage secret.
Paul assumes the existence of a secret passage.
Passé composé
Completed past events, using avoir or être plus a past participle.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | ai supposé | I assumed | |
| tu | as supposé | you assumed | |
| il / elle / on | a supposé | he / she / it assumedon: we assumed / one assumed | |
| nous | avons supposé | we assumed | |
| vous | avez supposé | you assumed | |
| ils / elles | ont supposé | they assumed |
IN A SENTENCEPassé composé example
Hier, Paul a supposé l'existence d'un passage secret.
Yesterday, Paul assumed the existence of a secret passage.
The passé composé uses avoir. The table shows the unmarked participle; agreement with a preceding direct object is outside this reference.
Back to tense navigation ↑Imperfect Imparfait
Past habits, descriptions, and actions in progress.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | supposais | I used to assume | |
| tu | supposais | you used to assume | |
| il / elle / on | supposait | he / she / it used to assumeon: we used to assume / one used to assume | |
| nous | supposions | we used to assume | |
| vous | supposiez | you used to assume | |
| ils / elles | supposaient | they used to assume |
IN A SENTENCEImperfect example
Autrefois, Paul supposait l'existence d'un passage secret.
Back then, Paul used to assume the existence of a secret passage.
Future Futur simple
Future events and predictions.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | supposerai | I will assume | |
| tu | supposeras | you will assume | |
| il / elle / on | supposera | he / she / it will assumeon: we will assume / one will assume | |
| nous | supposerons | we will assume | |
| vous | supposerez | you will assume | |
| ils / elles | supposeront | they will assume |
IN A SENTENCEFuture example
Plus tard, Paul supposera l'existence d'un passage secret.
Later, Paul will assume the existence of a secret passage.
Conditional Conditionnel présent
Hypothetical events and polite requests.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | supposerais | I would assume | |
| tu | supposerais | you would assume | |
| il / elle / on | supposerait | he / she / it would assumeon: we would assume / one would assume | |
| nous | supposerions | we would assume | |
| vous | supposeriez | you would assume | |
| ils / elles | supposeraient | they would assume |
IN A SENTENCEConditional example
Paul supposerait l'existence d'un passage secret.
Paul would assume the existence of a secret passage.
Present subjunctive Subjonctif présent
Dependent clauses expressing wishes, necessity, doubt, and certain feelings.
| Subject | French | English | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|
| je / j’ | suppose | (that) I assume | |
| tu | supposes | (that) you assume | |
| il / elle / on | suppose | (that) he / she / it assumeson: (that) we assume / one assumes | |
| nous | supposions | (that) we assume | |
| vous | supposiez | (that) you assume | |
| ils / elles | supposent | (that) they assume |
IN A SENTENCEPresent subjunctive example
Il est possible que Paul suppose l'existence d'un passage secret.
It is possible that Paul assumes the existence of a secret passage.
French forms omit the subject. Use j’ before a vowel sound. Vous is polite singular or plural “you”; on often means “we,” or the general “one.” English wording depends on the context: passé composé can also use “have,” and the imperfect can describe an ongoing action. Subjunctive translations here follow “it is possible that.”
Meaning & usage
- to suppose, to think, to reckon, to surmise
- to suggest, to imply
English glosses are a starting point. The meaning of a verb can change with context, a preposition, or se. Read the full dictionary entry ↗
Meanings and simple conjugation forms adapted from English Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki.org / Wiktextract. Passé composé forms combine the source auxiliary and past participle. Frequency scores from wordfreq 3.1.1 by Robyn Speer and contributors. Adapted data is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Entry source · Sources, download & limitations