haffa

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish haffa, from Middle Low German haffen (“to handle, treat by hand”), related to Middle Low German haven (“to have, hold”) and Middle Low German hebben (“to have”). Compare also Middle High German haben (“to have, grab, seize”).

Verb

haffa (present haffar, preterite haffade, supine haffat, imperative haffa)

  1. (slang) to catch criminals
    De haffades av polisen
    They were caught by the police
  2. (slang) to (quickly) seize (something, by grabbing it)
    Han sprang ut och haffade ett slagträ på vägen när han såg zombierna närma sig huset
    He ran out and grabbed a bat on the way when he saw the zombies approach the house
  3. (slang, figuratively) to catch, to get hold of
    De haffade en taxi
    They caught a taxi
    Han försökte haffa en tjej
    He tried to pick up a girl (only sense known to many younger native speakers)
    Ska du haffa?
    Are you going to try to pick her up?

Usage notes

Fula Ordboken and Slangopedia say hit on rather than pick up.

Conjugation

Conjugation of haffa (weak)
active passive
infinitive haffa haffas
supine haffat haffats
imperative haffa —
imper. plural1 haffen —
present past present past
indicative haffar haffade haffas haffades
ind. plural1 haffa haffade haffas haffades
subjunctive2 haffe haffade haffes haffades
present participle haffande
past participle haffad

1 Archaic. 2 Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.

References

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