frapper
French
Etymology
From Middle French frapper, from Old French fraper, frapper (“to deliver a blow to someone, hit, strike”), from Frankish *hrapōn (“to snatch, scuffle”), from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrapjaną (“to touch, scratch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)krep-, *(s)kreb- (“to scratch, engrave”). Cognate with Old High German hraffōn (“to take over, seize”) (whence German raffen (“to gather up, heap”)), Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat”), Old Norse hrappa (“to handle roughly”), North Frisian rippe (“to move, stir”).
For the Romance substitution of [fr] for Germanic [xr] compare also freux, froc, frimas, etc.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fʁa.pe/
audio (file)
Verb
frapper
- to hit, to strike, to bash
- Il m'a frappé le bras. ― He hit me on the arm.
- to knock (e.g. on a door)
- 1978, “Aimer d'amour”, performed by Boule Noire:
- L'amour ne vient pas souvent / Frapper au bon moment / Quand il vient te voir / Faut savoir le recevoir
- (please add an English translation of this quote)
- 2006, “Un Ange Frappe À Ma Porte”, in Longueur D'Ondes, performed by Natasha St. Pier:
- Un ange frappe à ma porte
- An angel knocks at my door.
-
- to bang (to get attention)
- (music) to beat time (as a conductor)
- (music) to strike (a chord)
- to strike down
- frappé par Dieu ― struck down by God
- to hit (to be affected by a punishment)
- (figuratively) to strike
- frapper l'imagination ― to strike the imagination.
- (bartending) to shake
Conjugation
Conjugation of frapper (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | frapper | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | frappant /fʁa.pɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | frappé /fʁa.pe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | frappe /fʁap/ | frappes /fʁap/ | frappe /fʁap/ | frappons /fʁa.pɔ̃/ | frappez /fʁa.pe/ | frappent /fʁap/ |
| imperfect | frappais /fʁa.pɛ/ | frappais /fʁa.pɛ/ | frappait /fʁa.pɛ/ | frappions /fʁa.pjɔ̃/ | frappiez /fʁa.pje/ | frappaient /fʁa.pɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | frappai /fʁa.pe/ | frappas /fʁa.pa/ | frappa /fʁa.pa/ | frappâmes /fʁa.pam/ | frappâtes /fʁa.pat/ | frappèrent /fʁa.pɛʁ/ | |
| future | frapperai /fʁa.pʁe/ | frapperas /fʁa.pʁa/ | frappera /fʁa.pʁa/ | frapperons /fʁa.pʁɔ̃/ | frapperez /fʁa.pʁe/ | frapperont /fʁa.pʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | frapperais /fʁa.pʁɛ/ | frapperais /fʁa.pʁɛ/ | frapperait /fʁa.pʁɛ/ | frapperions /fʁa.pə.ʁjɔ̃/ | frapperiez /fʁa.pə.ʁje/ | frapperaient /fʁa.pʁɛ/ | |
| (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 | frappe /fʁap/ | frappes /fʁap/ | frappe /fʁap/ | frappions /fʁa.pjɔ̃/ | frappiez /fʁa.pje/ | frappent /fʁap/ |
| imperfect2 | frappasse /fʁa.pas/ | frappasses /fʁa.pas/ | frappât /fʁa.pa/ | frappassions /fʁa.pa.sjɔ̃/ | frappassiez /fʁa.pa.sje/ | frappassent /fʁa.pas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | frappe /fʁap/ | — | frappons /fʁa.pɔ̃/ | frappez /fʁa.pe/ | — | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
- frapper à la bonne porte
- frappé au coin du bon sens
- frapper un ennemi à terre
- frapper les grands coups
- frapper monnaie
- frappe
- frappoir
Descendants
- → German: frappieren
- → Polish: frapować
Further reading
- “frapper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Middle French
Alternative forms
- fraper
Verb
frapper
- to hit; to strike
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
Conjugation of frapper
| infinitive | simple | frapper | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | frappant | |||||
| compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | frappé | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | frappe | frappes | frappe | frappons | frappez | frappent |
| imperfect | frappois, frappoys | frappois, frappoys | frappoit, frappoyt | frappions, frappyons | frappiez, frappyez | frappoient, frappoyent | |
| past historic | frappa | frappas | frappa | frappasmes | frappastes | frapperent | |
| future | frapperai, frapperay | frapperas | frappera | frapperons | frapperez | frapperont | |
| conditional | frapperois, frapperoys | frapperois, frapperoys | frapperoit, frapperoyt | frapperions, frapperyons | frapperiez, frapperyez | frapperoient, frapperoyent | |
| (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 | frappe | frappes | frappe | frappons | frappez | frappent |
| imperfect | frappasse | frappasses | frappast | frappassions | frappassiez | frappassent | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | frappe | — | frappons | frappez | — | |
| 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). | |||||||
Descendants
- French: frapper