Sospechar Conjugation in Spanish
Introduction
sospechar means "to suspect" in English, and it is one of the verbs you will meet constantly in everyday Spanish — for suspecting something, or suspecting someone. Learning it properly means more than memorising one form: the verb changes across thirteen tenses, and this page gives you every one of them, with the exact forms from the VerbFlow engine, so you can check any person or tense in seconds. Sospechar is a regular -ar verb verb, and it is regular in every tense. That matters because the patterns on this page are the patterns you will reuse every time you speak or write. Work through the tables first, then read the notes under each tense — they explain when to use each tense and what to watch out for with this verb in particular. A natural example is: Cada día, yo sospecho que algo no va bien. — "Every day, I suspect that something is wrong." Once you can say that sentence confidently, try changing the person and the tense using the tables below.
Quick facts
| Infinitive | sospechar |
| Translation | to suspect |
| Verb type | Regular -ar verb |
| Gerund | sospechando |
| Past participle | sospechado |
| Auxiliary | haber (all compound tenses) |
| Irregular tenses | regular in every tense |
Full conjugation of sospechar
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospecho |
| tú | sospechas |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospecha |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospecháis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospechan |
Preterite
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospeché |
| tú | sospechaste |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospechó |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospechasteis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospecharon |
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospechaba |
| tú | sospechabas |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospechaba |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechábamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospechabais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospechaban |
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospecharé |
| tú | sospecharás |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospechará |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospecharemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospecharéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospecharán |
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospecharía |
| tú | sospecharías |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospecharía |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospecharíamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospecharíais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospecharían |
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospeche |
| tú | sospeches |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospeche |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospechéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospechen |
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | sospechara |
| tú | sospecharas |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospechara |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospecháramos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospecharais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospecharan |
Present perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | he sospechado |
| tú | has sospechado |
| él / ella / Ud. | ha sospechado |
| nosotros / nosotras | hemos sospechado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habéis sospechado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | han sospechado |
Pluperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | había sospechado |
| tú | habías sospechado |
| él / ella / Ud. | había sospechado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habíamos sospechado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habíais sospechado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habían sospechado |
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habré sospechado |
| tú | habrás sospechado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habrá sospechado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habremos sospechado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habréis sospechado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrán sospechado |
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | habría sospechado |
| tú | habrías sospechado |
| él / ella / Ud. | habría sospechado |
| nosotros / nosotras | habríamos sospechado |
| vosotros / vosotras | habríais sospechado |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | habrían sospechado |
Imperative — affirmative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sospecha |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospeche |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospechad |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospechen |
Imperative — negative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tú | sospeches |
| él / ella / Ud. | sospeche |
| nosotros / nosotras | sospechemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sospechéis |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | sospechen |
Gerund: sospechando · Past participle: sospechado
Sospechar in every tense — notes and examples
Present indicative
The present is the tense for habits, facts and what is happening now. It is the first tense to master, because the present subjunctive and the affirmative imperative are both built from the present yo form. Example: Cada día, yo sospecho que algo no va bien. — "Every day, I suspect that something is wrong."
Preterite
The preterite is for completed actions in the past — things that started and finished at a definite moment. Use it for a single event, a sequence of events, or an action with a clear end. Example: Ayer, yo sospeché que algo no va bien. — "Yesterday, I suspected that something is wrong."
Imperfect
The imperfect is for the past without a definite end: habits, background scenes, descriptions and actions in progress when something else happened. It never states when the action finished. Example: Antes, yo sospechaba que algo no va bien. — "Before, I suspected that something is wrong."
Future
The future is for what will happen, and also for guesses about the present ("I wonder if…"). For regular verbs it is the infinitive plus the endings -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án. Example: Mañana, yo sospecharé que algo no va bien. — "Tomorrow, I will suspect that something is wrong."
Conditional
The conditional is for what would happen — polite requests, hypothetical results and reported expectations. It shares its stem with the future, so any irregular future stem appears here too. Example: Yo sospecharía que algo no va bien si tuviera la oportunidad. — "I would suspect that something is wrong if I had the chance."
Present subjunctive
The present subjunctive is for wishes, doubts, emotions and other non-facts after que, and after expressions such as ojalá, es importante que or no creo que. It is not a tense for stating facts. Example: Espero que ella sospeche que algo no va bien. — "I hope she will suspect that something is wrong."
Imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms)
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra forms) is for wishes and doubts about the past, and for the if-part of hypothetical sentences (si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional). This page shows the -ra forms from the engine. Example: Si ella sospechara que algo no va bien, todo cambiaría. — "If she suspected that something is wrong, everything would change."
Present perfect
The present perfect (haber + past participle) is for past actions connected to the present — recent events, experience, or something that has just happened. The auxiliary is always haber. Example: Yo he sospechado de su vecino varias veces. — "I have suspected his neighbour several times."
Pluperfect
The pluperfect (había + past participle) is the past of the past: something that had already happened before another past event. Example: Yo había sospechado que algo no va bien antes de la reunión. — "I had suspected that something is wrong before the meeting."
Future perfect
The future perfect (habré + past participle) is for something that will already be finished by a future moment, or for a guess about the past. It is less common in speech than the simple future. Example: Para mañana, yo habré sospechado que algo no va bien. — "By tomorrow, I will have suspected that something is wrong."
Conditional perfect
The conditional perfect (habría + past participle) is for what would have happened — the past of the conditional, used for regrets and unreal past conditions. Example: Yo habría sospechado que algo no va bien si hubiera tenido tiempo. — "I would have suspected that something is wrong if I had had time."
Imperative — affirmative
The affirmative imperative is for direct orders, instructions and invitations. The tú form comes from the present él/ella form, and the formal, nosotros and plural forms come from the present subjunctive. Example: ¡sospecha que algo no va bien! — "Suspect that something is wrong!"
Imperative — negative
The negative imperative (no + subjunctive) is for telling someone not to do something. All five persons come from the present subjunctive, which is why they look different from the affirmative tú form. Example: No sospeches que algo no va bien. — "Do not suspect that something is wrong."
Example sentences with sospechar
Yo sospecho que algo no va bien. — "I suspect that something is wrong."
¿Tú sospechas de su vecino? — "Do you suspect his neighbour?"
Ayer, él sospechó que algo no va bien. — "Yesterday, he suspected that something is wrong."
Nosotros sospechamos de su vecino a tiempo. — "We suspected his neighbour on time."
Antes, ellos sospechaban que algo no va bien. — "Before, they suspected that something is wrong."
Mañana, yo sospecharé de su vecino. — "Tomorrow, I will suspect his neighbour."
Nosotros sospecharíamos que algo no va bien si pudiéramos. — "We would suspect that something is wrong if we could."
Yo he sospechado de su vecino varias veces. — "I have suspected his neighbour several times."
Espero que ella sospeche que algo no va bien. — "I hope she will suspect that something is wrong."
Ahora mismo, yo estoy sospechando de su vecino. — "Right now, I am suspecting his neighbour."
Common mistakes with sospechar
1. Dropping the accent on the preterite yo form
The preterite yo form is sospeché — with the accent. Without it the word is misspelled, and in some verbs the accent is the only thing separating one tense from another.
2. Confusing sospechar with suponer (to suppose)
sospechar means "to suspect", while suponer means "to suppose". They overlap in English but they are not interchangeable in Spanish: use sospechar when you mean suspecting something, or suspecting someone, and suponer for its own meaning. Check the conjugation of suponer before choosing.
3. Mixing up the preterite and the imperfect
Ayer yo sospeché que algo no va bien (preterite: one finished event yesterday) is not the same as antes yo sospechaba que algo no va bien (imperfect: what used to happen). If you can add "yesterday" or "last week", you usually want the preterite; if you can add "used to", you want the imperfect.
4. Using estar instead of haber in the perfect tenses
The present perfect is he sospechado (haber + participle), never estoy sospechado. Haber is the only auxiliary for compound tenses in Spanish.
5. Using the infinitive after a conjugated verb without a connector
When sospechar is followed by another verb, check whether Spanish needs que or a preposition between them. A bare infinitive after a conjugated sospechar is a common English-speaker error — say the full construction you have practised on this page.
Quiz: sospechar
1. Yo ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecha b. sospecho c. sospechan
2. Ella ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecho b. sospecha c. sospechan
3. Ayer, yo ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecho b. sospeché c. sospecha
4. Ellos ___ que algo no va bien ayer.
a. sospecho b. sospecharon c. sospecha
5. Antes, yo ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecho b. sospechaba c. sospecha
6. Mañana, yo ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecho b. sospecharé c. sospecha
7. Yo ___ que algo no va bien si pudiera.
a. sospecho b. sospecharía c. sospecha
8. Espero que ella ___ que algo no va bien.
a. sospecho b. sospeche c. sospecha
9. Ahora mismo, yo estoy ___ de su vecino.
a. sospechado b. sospechando c. sospecho
10. Yo he ___ de su vecino varias veces.
a. sospechando b. sospechado c. sospecho
Answer key
sospecho — present tense, yo form.
sospecha — present tense, él/ella form.
sospeché — preterite, yo form — a finished action yesterday.
sospecharon — preterite, ellos/ellas form.
sospechaba — imperfect, yo form — a past habit.
sospecharé — future, yo form.
sospecharía — conditional, yo form — a hypothetical.
sospeche — present subjunctive after 'espero que'.
sospechando — gerund — the progressive is estar + gerund.
sospechado — past participle — the present perfect is haber + participle.
Frequently asked questions about sospechar
What does sospechar mean in English?
Sospechar means "to suspect". It is used for suspecting something, or suspecting someone. A simple example is yo sospecho que algo no va bien — "I suspect that something is wrong."
Is sospechar regular or irregular?
Sospechar is a regular -ar verb verb, and it is regular in every tense. The forms that most often catch learners out are the present yo form sospecho, the preterite yo form sospeché and the past participle sospechado — learn those three first, then fill in the rest from the tables above.
What is the gerund and the past participle of sospechar?
The gerund is sospechando (used for the progressive: estoy sospechando) and the past participle is sospechado (used with haber in all perfect tenses: he sospechado). Both forms are used constantly, so they are worth memorising on their own.
How do I say "I suspect" in the past?
It depends on the meaning. For one finished action use the preterite: ayer yo sospeché que algo no va bien — "yesterday I suspected that something is wrong". For a past habit or background use the imperfect: antes yo sospechaba que algo no va bien — "before, I suspected that something is wrong". The mistake most learners make is using one for the other.
Does sospechar take the subjunctive?
Not usually. Sospechar on its own takes the indicative — yo sospecho que algo no va bien. You will meet the subjunctive with sospechar only inside a larger construction that itself triggers it, such as no creo que or es importante que, and then the subjunctive form is sospeche.