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FRENCH VERB

couper

to cut, to cut out

  • #241 most used
  • Regular -er verb
  • Past participle: coupé
  • Present participle: coupant

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Présent · now, habits and facts

  1. je I cut
  2. tu you cut
  3. il, elle, on he/she cuts
  4. nous we cut
  5. vous you cut
  6. ils, elles they cut

Past

Passé composé · finished actions

  1. je I cut
  2. tu you cut
  3. il, elle, on he/she cut
  4. nous we cut
  5. vous you cut
  6. ils, elles they cut

Imperfect

Imparfait · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. je I used to cut
  2. tu you used to cut
  3. il, elle, on he/she used to cut
  4. nous we used to cut
  5. vous you used to cut
  6. ils, elles they used to cut

Future

Futur simple · plans; in speech, “je vais parler” is just as common

  1. je I will cut
  2. tu you will cut
  3. il, elle, on he/she will cut
  4. nous we will cut
  5. vous you will cut
  6. ils, elles they will cut

Conditional

Conditionnel · “would”, polite requests

  1. je I would cut
  2. tu you would cut
  3. il, elle, on he/she would cut
  4. nous we would cut
  5. vous you would cut
  6. ils, elles they would cut

Present subjunctive

Subjonctif présent · wishes, doubts, “il faut que …”

  1. je (that) I cut
  2. tu (that) you cut
  3. il, elle, on (that) he/she cut
  4. nous (that) we cut
  5. vous (that) you cut
  6. ils, elles (that) they cut

Imperative

Impératif · requests and orders

  1. tu cut!
  2. nous cut! (let’s)
  3. vous cut! (plural, or formal)

How to use couper

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Je coupe le gâteau en huit ?

    Shall I cut the cake into eight?

  2. Past

    Ils ont coupé l'eau toute la matinée.

    They cut off the water all morning.

  3. Imperfect

    Ma mère coupait toujours les tomates très fin.

    My mother always cut the tomatoes very thin.

  4. Future

    Le coiffeur me coupera les cheveux samedi.

    The hairdresser will cut my hair on Saturday.

  5. Conditional

    Tu couperais le fromage ? Je m'occupe du vin.

    Would you cut the cheese? I'll see to the wine.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Il faut que tu coupes les oignons plus petits.

    You need to cut the onions smaller.

  7. Imperative

    Coupez le moteur, s'il vous plaît.

    Turn off the engine, please.

Good to know

  • Couper also works for the phone and the power : ça a coupé, we got cut off.

Where you hear couper

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

French · Beginner Level 1

  • Ça coupe, je t'entends mal. It's cutting out, I can't hear you well.
  • Le téléphone a coupé pendant notre conversation. The phone cut out during our conversation.
  • Ici, ça va encore couper. Here, it's going to cut out again.

French · Beginner Level 2

  • Je coupe les pommes de terre. I'm cutting the potatoes.
  • J'ai coupé le pain. I cut the bread.
  • Tu vas couper les tomates ? Are you going to cut the tomatoes?
26
A Bad Line

Beginner Level 1 · Ça coupe !

Needs a subscription 25
Cooking with Sylvie

Beginner Level 2 · Coupe ! · Coupez !

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At the Hairdresser's

Beginner Level 3 · couper

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: regular -er verb.