happer
French
Etymology
From Old French happer, ultimately onomatopoeic. Words of similar form and meaning are found in nearby Germanic languages but are of later attestation: Dutch happen, German Happen.
Pronunciation
- (aspirated h) IPA(key): /a.pe/
Audio (Lyon, France) (file)
Verb
happer (transitive)
- to snatch by the mouth, to snap up (typically of animals)
- On lui jeta un os, et il le happa. ― They threw it a bone, and it snapped it up.
- (figurative) to grab, to seize
- (colloquial) to strike forcefully
- Il a été happé par une automobile et tué sur le coup. ― He was hit by a car and killed on the spot.
Conjugation
Conjugation of happer (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | happer | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | happant /a.pɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | happé /a.pe/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) | present | happe /ap/ | happes /ap/ | happe /ap/ | happons /a.pɔ̃/ | happez /a.pe/ | happent /ap/ |
| imperfect | happais /a.pɛ/ | happais /a.pɛ/ | happait /a.pɛ/ | happions /a.pjɔ̃/ | happiez /a.pje/ | happaient /a.pɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | happai /a.pe/ | happas /a.pa/ | happa /a.pa/ | happâmes /a.pam/ | happâtes /a.pat/ | happèrent /a.pɛʁ/ | |
| future | happerai /a.pʁe/ | happeras /a.pʁa/ | happera /a.pʁa/ | happerons /a.pʁɔ̃/ | happerez /a.pʁe/ | happeront /a.pʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | happerais /a.pʁɛ/ | happerais /a.pʁɛ/ | happerait /a.pʁɛ/ | happerions /a.pə.ʁjɔ̃/ | happeriez /a.pə.ʁje/ | happeraient /a.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 | happe /ap/ | happes /ap/ | happe /ap/ | happions /a.pjɔ̃/ | happiez /a.pje/ | happent /ap/ |
| imperfect2 | happasse /a.pas/ | happasses /a.pas/ | happât /a.pa/ | happassions /a.pa.sjɔ̃/ | happassiez /a.pa.sje/ | happassent /a.pas/ | |
| (compound tenses) | past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | happe /ap/ | — | happons /a.pɔ̃/ | happez /a.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). | |||||||
Further reading
- “happer”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Norman
Etymology
Borrowed from Old Norse harpa (“to grip, pinch”).
Pronunciation
Audio (Jersey) (file)
Verb
happer (gerund happ'thie)
- (Jersey) to catch
Antonyms
- r'lâchi (“to release”)