Learn Romanian › apuca
apuca
to grab, to seize /a.puˈka/
verb#1317 most common
Also: to catch (in time), to manage to do something, to take (a road/direction)
Example sentences
Copilul apucă jucăria de pe masă.
The child grabs the toy off the table.
Apucă-mă de mână, e alunecos!
Grab my hand, it's slippery!
Nu am apucat să mănânc nimic azi.
I haven't managed to eat anything today.
A apucat ultimul autobuz spre casă, chiar înainte să plece.
He caught the last bus home, just before it left.
Bunica mea a apucat vremurile comuniste și îmi povestește des despre ele.
My grandmother lived through the communist era and often tells me about it.
Dacă apuci să depui dosarul înainte de termenul limită, vei evita penalizările birocratice.
If you manage to submit the file before the deadline, you'll avoid the bureaucratic penalties.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | apuc | apucai | voi apuca |
| 2sg | apuci | apucași | vei apuca |
| 3sg | apucă | apucă | va apuca |
| 1pl | apucăm | apucarăm | vom apuca |
| 2pl | apucați | apucarăți | veți apuca |
| 3pl | apucă | apucară | vor apuca |
Word family
apucăturăa grasping habit, a mannerism (often negative)
apucatreckless, wild, impulsive (colloquial, of a person)
apucarethe act of grabbing or seizing
neapucatnot managed in time, missed
apucătoaregrasping, clutching (feminine form)
Etymology
Romanian dictionaries list the origin of "apuca" as uncertain. It is not a clean descendant of a known Latin verb, and proposals linking it to Vulgar Latin forms remain disputed among specialists. The verb has been part of the language long enough to spawn a full family of derived nouns and adjectives, which suggests deep roots even though the exact source word is unsettled.
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