happer

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French happer, haper, from Old French happer, haper (“to seize, snap up”), of obscure origin. Possibly onomatopoeic. Alternatively, of Germanic origin, either from Proto-West Germanic *happā (“hook, clasp”), or related to Middle Dutch happen (“to snap, bite”) (whence modern Dutch happen), Middle Dutch haperen (“to stammer, quarrel”) (whence modern Dutch haperen), German Low German happen (“to snatch something up, grab”), German Happen (“morsel, snack”).

Pronunciation

• ^{(aspirated h)} IPA^(key): /a.pe/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Somain)):

  (file)

Verb

happer (transitive)

1. 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.

2. (figurative) to grab, to seize
   • 2025 June 25, Sandra Lorenzo, quoting Alexandra, “Interdiction des écrans avant trois ans : bientôt un arrêté ?”, in La Provence, sourced from AFP, →ISSN, Grand Sud:

     […] tout en se disant “happée par les écrans” lorsqu'elle doit remplir les formulaires de l'application avec la crainte d'un défaut de surveillance en filigrane.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

3. (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.

4. (colloquial) to catch off guard; take by surprise

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		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
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: 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

• habin (“dog”)

Related terms

• happe

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)

1. (Jersey) to catch

Antonyms

• r'lâchi (“to release”)