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FRENCH VERB

se douter

to suspect

  • #286 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: douté
  • Present participle: se doutant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I suspect
  2. tu you suspect
  3. il, elle, on he/she suspects
  4. nous we suspect
  5. vous you suspect
  6. ils, elles they suspect

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I suspected
  2. tu you suspected
  3. il, elle, on he/she suspected
  4. nous we suspected
  5. vous you suspected
  6. ils, elles they suspected

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to suspect
  2. tu you used to suspect
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to suspect
  4. nous we used to suspect
  5. vous you used to suspect
  6. ils, elles they used to suspect

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will suspect
  2. tu you will suspect
  3. il, elle, on he/she will suspect
  4. nous we will suspect
  5. vous you will suspect
  6. ils, elles they will suspect

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would suspect
  2. tu you would suspect
  3. il, elle, on he/she would suspect
  4. nous we would suspect
  5. vous you would suspect
  6. ils, elles they would suspect

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I suspect
  2. tu (that) you suspect
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she suspect
  4. nous (that) we suspect
  5. vous (that) you suspect
  6. ils, elles (that) they suspect

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu suspect!
  2. nous suspect! (let’s)
  3. vous suspect! (plural, or formal)

How to use se douter

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Je me doute bien que tu es fatigué.

    I can well imagine you're tired.

  2. Past

    Je m'en suis douté dès le premier jour.

    I suspected it from the very first day.

  3. Imperfect

    Elle se doutait de quelque chose depuis longtemps.

    She'd suspected something for a long time.

  4. Future

    Il ne se doutera de rien, c'est une surprise.

    He won't suspect a thing, it's a surprise.

  5. Conditional

    Qui se douterait qu'il a soixante ans ?

    Who would guess he's sixty?

  6. Present subjunctive

    Je ne veux pas qu'elle se doute de quoi que ce soit.

    I don't want her to suspect anything.

  7. Imperative

    Doute-toi bien que ta mère va poser des questions.

    You can be sure your mother will ask questions.

Good to know

  • Se douter de quelque chose is to suspect it; douter de is to doubt it, almost the opposite.
  • "Je m'en doute" is "I bet", "I'm not surprised".

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.