couper
French
Etymology
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.
Pronunciation
Verb
couper
- to cut, cut up, to chop
- to cut off, to keep out
- to dilute (with water)
- (reflexive, se couper, of leather) to crack
Conjugation
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 | – | – | – | ||||
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Derived terms
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
See also
Further reading
- “couper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
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