haffa

Swedish

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”).

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

(slang) to catch criminals
De haffades av polisen
They were caught by the police
(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
(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?

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

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
	Participles
Present participle	haffande
Past participle	haffad
¹ Archaic. ² Dated. See the appendix on Swedish verbs.