rattraper

French

Etymology

From re- +‎ attraper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁa.tʁa.pe/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

rattraper

1. (transitive) to get back (something which is lost)
2. (transitive) to catch up (with) (arrive at the same level as)
3. (transitive) to catch (e.g. an elevator)

Conjugation

Conjugation of rattraper (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	rattraper
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	rattrapant /ʁa.tʁa.pɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		rattrapé /ʁa.tʁa.pe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	rattrape /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrapes /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrape /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrapons /ʁa.tʁa.pɔ̃/	rattrapez /ʁa.tʁa.pe/	rattrapent /ʁa.tʁap/
	imperfect	rattrapais /ʁa.tʁa.pɛ/	rattrapais /ʁa.tʁa.pɛ/	rattrapait /ʁa.tʁa.pɛ/	rattrapions /ʁa.tʁa.pjɔ̃/	rattrapiez /ʁa.tʁa.pje/	rattrapaient /ʁa.tʁa.pɛ/
	past historic2	rattrapai /ʁa.tʁa.pe/	rattrapas /ʁa.tʁa.pa/	rattrapa /ʁa.tʁa.pa/	rattrapâmes /ʁa.tʁa.pam/	rattrapâtes /ʁa.tʁa.pat/	rattrapèrent /ʁa.tʁa.pɛʁ/
	future	rattraperai /ʁa.tʁa.pʁe/	rattraperas /ʁa.tʁa.pʁa/	rattrapera /ʁa.tʁa.pʁa/	rattraperons /ʁa.tʁa.pʁɔ̃/	rattraperez /ʁa.tʁa.pʁe/	rattraperont /ʁa.tʁa.pʁɔ̃/
	conditional	rattraperais /ʁa.tʁa.pʁɛ/	rattraperais /ʁa.tʁa.pʁɛ/	rattraperait /ʁa.tʁa.pʁɛ/	rattraperions /ʁa.tʁa.pə.ʁjɔ̃/	rattraperiez /ʁa.tʁa.pə.ʁje/	rattraperaient /ʁa.tʁa.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	rattrape /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrapes /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrape /ʁa.tʁap/	rattrapions /ʁa.tʁa.pjɔ̃/	rattrapiez /ʁa.tʁa.pje/	rattrapent /ʁa.tʁap/
	imperfect2	rattrapasse /ʁa.tʁa.pas/	rattrapasses /ʁa.tʁa.pas/	rattrapât /ʁa.tʁa.pa/	rattrapassions /ʁa.tʁa.pa.sjɔ̃/	rattrapassiez /ʁa.tʁa.pa.sje/	rattrapassent /ʁa.tʁa.pas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	rattrape /ʁa.tʁap/	—	rattrapons /ʁa.tʁa.pɔ̃/	rattrapez /ʁa.tʁa.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).

Related terms

• attraper
• pas un pour rattraper l’autre
• rattrapage
• rattraper le temps perdu

Further reading

• “rattraper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.