supposer

English

Etymology

From suppose + -er.

Noun

supposer (plural supposers)

1. One who supposes.
   • 1834, Sir James Mackintosh, History of the revolution in England in 1688:

     It is evident, however, that such suppositions can do no more than illustrate the peculiar opinions of the supposer, and cannot prove that which, in the nature of things, they pre-suppose.

Anagrams

• porpuses, purposes

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French supposer, from Old French supposer, borrowed from Latin suppōnere, altered based on French poser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.po.ze/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

supposer

1. to suppose, to think, to reckon, to surmise

   Supposons qu'il puisse te faire oublier. ― Suppose he could make you forget.

   (please add an English translation of this usage example)

2. to suggest, to imply

Conjugation

Conjugation of supposer (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	supposer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	supposant /sy.po.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		supposé /sy.po.ze/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	suppose /sy.poz/	supposes /sy.poz/	suppose /sy.poz/	supposons /sy.po.zɔ̃/	supposez /sy.po.ze/	supposent /sy.poz/
	imperfect	supposais /sy.po.zɛ/	supposais /sy.po.zɛ/	supposait /sy.po.zɛ/	supposions /sy.po.zjɔ̃/	supposiez /sy.po.zje/	supposaient /sy.po.zɛ/
	past historic2	supposai /sy.po.ze/	supposas /sy.po.za/	supposa /sy.po.za/	supposâmes /sy.po.zam/	supposâtes /sy.po.zat/	supposèrent /sy.po.zɛʁ/
	future	supposerai /sy.poz.ʁe/	supposeras /sy.poz.ʁa/	supposera /sy.poz.ʁa/	supposerons /sy.poz.ʁɔ̃/	supposerez /sy.poz.ʁe/	supposeront /sy.poz.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	supposerais /sy.poz.ʁɛ/	supposerais /sy.poz.ʁɛ/	supposerait /sy.poz.ʁɛ/	supposerions /sy.po.zə.ʁjɔ̃/	supposeriez /sy.po.zə.ʁje/	supposeraient /sy.poz.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	suppose /sy.poz/	supposes /sy.poz/	suppose /sy.poz/	supposions /sy.po.zjɔ̃/	supposiez /sy.po.zje/	supposent /sy.poz/
	imperfect2	supposasse /sy.po.zas/	supposasses /sy.po.zas/	supposât /sy.po.za/	supposassions /sy.po.za.sjɔ̃/	supposassiez /sy.po.za.sje/	supposassent /sy.po.zas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	suppose /sy.poz/	—	supposons /sy.po.zɔ̃/	supposez /sy.po.ze/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• à supposer que

Further reading

• “supposer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French supposer, borrowed from Latin suppōnō, suppōnere, altered based on poser.

Verb

supposer

1. to suppose (to assume to be true)

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of supposer

infinitive	simple	supposer
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	supposant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		supposé
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	suppose	supposes	suppose	supposons	supposez	supposent
	imperfect	supposois, supposoys	supposois, supposoys	supposoit, supposoyt	supposions, supposyons	supposiez, supposyez	supposoient, supposoyent
	past historic	supposa	supposas	supposa	supposasmes	supposastes	supposerent
	future	supposerai, supposeray	supposeras	supposera	supposerons	supposerez	supposeront
	conditional	supposerois, supposeroys	supposerois, supposeroys	supposeroit, supposeroyt	supposerions, supposeryons	supposeriez, supposeryez	supposeroient, supposeroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	suppose	supposes	suppose	supposons	supposez	supposent
	imperfect	supposasse	supposasses	supposast	supposassions	supposassiez	supposassent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	suppose	—	supposons	supposez	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).