couper

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French[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Inherited from Old French coper, colper (“to cut off”), probably, derived from cop (“blow”), colp (modern coup), with its meaning coming from the idea of cutting off with a blow. It may correspond to a Vulgar Latin verb *colpāre, syncopated form of *colaphāre, from Latin colaphus (compare Old Spanish golpar, colpar, Old Galician-Portuguese golpar, golbar). Alternatively, possibly from Vulgar Latin *cuppāre (“to behead”), from Latin caput (“head”), although this is unlikely. Not related to couteau.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ku.pe/
  • audio(file)

Verb[edit]

couper

  1. to cut, cut up; to chop, to sever
  2. to cut, to clip, to trim
    J’ai besoin de me faire couper les cheveux. ― I need to get my hair cut.
  3. to cut off, to keep out, to bar
    couper le cours d’une rivière ― to block the course of a river
  4. to take away
    couper le souffle ― to take someone's breath away
    couper l’appétit ― to spoil someone's appetite
    couper l’envie ― to turn someone off, to kill the mood
  5. to stop, prevent
    couper quelqu’un dans son élan ― to stop someone in their tracks
  6. to dilute, mix
    couper du whisky avec du coca ― to mix whisky with Coke
    L’industrie coupe le lait avec de l’eau pour se faire plus d’argent.
    The industry is diluting milk with water to make more money.
  7. to traverse
    Le fleuve de la Garonne coupe une grande partie du sud de la France
    The Garonne river flows through most of southern France.
  8. (intransitive, idiomatic) to take a shortcut through something, to cut through
    couper à travers champs ― to cut through fields
  9. (reflexive, of leather) to crack

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of couper (see also Appendix:French verbs)
infinitive simple couper
compound avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1 simple coupant
/ku.pɑ̃/
compound ayant + past participle
past participle coupé
/ku.pe/
singular plural
first second third first second third
indicative je (j’) tu il, elle, on nous vous ils, elles
(simple
tenses) 		present coupe
/kup/ 		coupes
/kup/ 		coupe
/kup/ 		coupons
/ku.pɔ̃/ 		coupez
/ku.pe/ 		coupent
/kup/
imperfect coupais
/ku.pɛ/ 		coupais
/ku.pɛ/ 		coupait
/ku.pɛ/ 		coupions
/ku.pjɔ̃/ 		coupiez
/ku.pje/ 		coupaient
/ku.pɛ/
past historic2 coupai
/ku.pe/ 		coupas
/ku.pa/ 		coupa
/ku.pa/ 		coupâmes
/ku.pam/ 		coupâtes
/ku.pat/ 		coupèrent
/ku.pɛʁ/
future couperai
/ku.pʁe/ 		couperas
/ku.pʁa/ 		coupera
/ku.pʁa/ 		couperons
/ku.pʁɔ̃/ 		couperez
/ku.pʁe/ 		couperont
/ku.pʁɔ̃/
conditional couperais
/ku.pʁɛ/ 		couperais
/ku.pʁɛ/ 		couperait
/ku.pʁɛ/ 		couperions
/ku.pə.ʁjɔ̃/ 		couperiez
/ku.pə.ʁje/ 		couperaient
/ku.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 coupe
/kup/ 		coupes
/kup/ 		coupe
/kup/ 		coupions
/ku.pjɔ̃/ 		coupiez
/ku.pje/ 		coupent
/kup/
imperfect2 coupasse
/ku.pas/ 		coupasses
/ku.pas/ 		coupât
/ku.pa/ 		coupassions
/ku.pa.sjɔ̃/ 		coupassiez
/ku.pa.sje/ 		coupassent
/ku.pas/
(compound
tenses) 		past present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
pluperfect2 imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative – tu – nous vous –
simple — coupe
/kup/ 		— coupons
/ku.pɔ̃/ 		coupez
/ku.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[edit]

Related terms[edit]

See also[edit]

See also

Further reading[edit]

Anagrams[edit]

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