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**Douter** and its reflexive counterpart **se douter** are near opposites. Because of this, they trigger different moods.

### Douter que + Subjunctive

**Douter que** means "to doubt that." Because it expresses uncertainty, it takes the **subjunctive**.

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### Se douter que + Indicative

**Se douter que** means "to suspect that" or "to have a strong feeling that." Since it expresses a strong belief that something is a fact, it takes the standard **indicative** mood.

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### Comparing the Two

Notice the mood difference when investigating a potential forgery:

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Douter vs. se douter (douter que / se douter que)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Singular 'to be' and indefinite articles (je suis un...)

Singular definite articles (le, la, l')

Identifying vs. describing (c'est vs. il est)

Feminine adjective agreement (+e)

Plural pronouns and 'to be' (nous sommes, vous êtes)

Formal and informal you (tu vs. vous)

Plural nouns and indefinite articles (des... -s)

Plural definite articles (les)

Plural adjective agreement (+s)

Stressed pronouns (moi, toi, lui)

The verb "to have" singular (j'ai, tu as, il a)

The verb "to have" plural (nous avons, vous avez, ils ont)

There is / there are (il y a)

Basic verbal negation (ne... pas)

Negating "there is" (il n'y a pas de)

Regular -er verbs singular (je parle, tu parles, il parle)

Regular -er verbs plural (nous parlons, vous parlez, ils parlent)

The verb "to be called" (s'appeler)

Yes/no questions with intonation (Tu parles ?)

Yes/no questions with "Est-ce que" (Est-ce que tu parles ?)

Informal questions (qui, que, quoi)

Standard questions (est-ce que)

Singular possessives (mon, ton, son)

Plural possessives (notre, votre, leur)

Demonstrative adjectives (ce, cet, cette, ces)

Adjective placement

Numbers 1 to 20

Numbers 21 to 100

Age and physical states (avoir)

The verb to go (aller)

The preposition to/at (à, au, aux)

Question word for location (où)

Prepositions for cities and countries (à, en, au, aux)

The verb to come (venir)

The preposition from/of (de, du, des)

Question word for origin (d'où)

The verb to do/make (faire)

Days of the week (lundi, mardi)

Telling time (il est... heure)

Question words for time (quand, à quelle heure)

The verb to take or have (prendre)

The verb to drink (boire)

Partitive articles (du, de la, de l')

Zero quantity (pas de)

Expressions of quantity (un peu de, beaucoup de)

Asking how much or how many (combien, combien de)

Very vs. a lot (très, beaucoup)

The verb to want (vouloir)

Polite requests (je voudrais)

The verb to be able to (pouvoir)

Obligation (devoir)

General obligation (il faut)

Why and because (pourquoi, parce que)

Expressing purpose (pour)

Reflexive pronouns (me, te, se, nous, vous)

Daily routine verbs (se lever, s'habiller)

Adverbs of frequency (parfois, rarement)

Never (ne... jamais)

Regular -ir verbs (choisir, finir)

Regular -re verbs (attendre, répondre)

Irregular -ir verbs (sortir, partir, dormir)

Informal 'we' (on)

The imperative mood

Direct object pronouns (le, la, les, l')

The near future (aller + infinitive)

The recent past (venir de + infinitive)

The passé composé with avoir

Irregular past participles (eu, été, fait, pris, vu)

The passé composé with être

The negative passé composé (ne ... pas)

Saying goodbye

Please, sorry and thank you

Which / what (quel)

The indefinite adjective (tout, tous)

Irregular feminine adjectives (-euse, -ve)

Double consonant adjectives (-enne, -ette)

Feminine adjective endings (-ère, -trice)

Irregular plurals (-x)

Plurals ending in -al (-aux)

Present tense stem changes (e to è)

Accent stem changes (é to è)

Double consonant verbs (appeler, jeter)

Verbs ending in -yer (payer, envoyer)

Irregular communication verbs (dire, lire)

Irregular action verbs (écrire, mettre)

Question	Answer
to doubt that	douter que
I doubt that this painting is a masterpiece.	Je doute que ce tableau soit un chef-d'œuvre.
the forger	le faussaire
The expert doubts that the forger has the best technique.	L'expert doute que le faussaire ait la meilleure technique.
the pigment	le pigment
Where does this pigment come from? We doubt that it is old.	D'où vient ce pigment ? On doute qu'il soit vieux.
the imitation (f)	l'imitation
They doubt that this imitation is perfect.	Ils doutent que cette imitation soit parfaite.
to suspect that	se douter que
We suspect that the forger comes from Paris.	On se doute que le faussaire vient de Paris.
I suspect that no gallery sells this imitation.	Je me doute qu'aucune galerie ne vend cette imitation.
the provenance	la provenance
The museum suspects that the provenance is false.	Le musée se doute que la provenance est fausse.
to reproduce	reproduire
We suspect that he reproduced the most famous painting.	On se doute qu'il a reproduit le tableau le plus célèbre.
to deceive	tromper
The forger deceived everyone and reproduced this painting.	Le faussaire a trompé tout le monde et a reproduit ce tableau.
to attribute to	attribuer à
We doubt that the expert attributes this painting to the forger.	On doute que l'expert attribue ce tableau au faussaire.
the appraisal (f)	l'expertise
She suspected that the appraisal was completely false.	Elle se doutait que l'expertise était tout à fait fausse.
They doubt that the provenance is authentic, so they ask for an appraisal.	Ils doutent que la provenance soit authentique, alors ils demandent une expertise.
The expert had just discovered the truth: the pigment is modern.	L'expert venait de découvrir la vérité : le pigment est moderne.
You suspect that this forger is going to deceive us again.	Tu te doutes que ce faussaire va encore nous tromper.
The historian suspects that he attributed this painting to another painter.	L'historien se doute qu'il a attribué ce tableau à un autre peintre.