occupy

occuper, habiter

Se trouver dans un lieu, y habiter ou prendre de la place.

En anglais simple : To be in a place, live there, or take up space.

• The sofa occupies most of the room.
• Two families occupied the house before us.
• Does anyone occupy the apartment upstairs?

Synonymes : take up, inhabit

Contraires : vacate

Expressions courantes : occupy a room, occupy a building, occupy space

occuper

Prendre le contrôle d’un lieu, généralement avec des soldats.

En anglais simple : To take control of a place, usually by using soldiers.

• The army occupied the city.
• Foreign troops occupy the northern region.
• The island was occupied during the war.

Synonymes : take over, hold

Contraires : liberate

Expressions courantes : occupy a country, occupy a territory, occupy a city

occuper

Donner quelque chose à faire à quelqu’un ou prendre de son temps.

En anglais simple : To keep someone busy or use their time.

• This puzzle will occupy the children.
• Repairs occupied most of my weekend.
• How do you occupy yourself on rainy days?

Comment l'utiliser : occupy yourself with something (She occupied herself with a puzzle while she waited.)

Synonymes : keep busy, engage

Expressions courantes : occupy someone, occupy someone’s time, occupy yourself with something

occuper, préoccuper

Remplir les pensées de quelqu’un au point qu’il pense sans cesse à une chose.

En anglais simple : To fill someone’s thoughts so they keep thinking about something.

• The problem occupied my mind all day.
• Thoughts of home occupy her whenever she feels lonely.
• His thoughts were occupied by the coming exam.

Synonymes : preoccupy, absorb

Expressions courantes : occupy someone’s mind, occupy someone’s thoughts

occuper, exercer

Avoir un emploi, un titre ou un rôle particulier.

En anglais simple : To have a particular job, title, or role.

• She occupies a senior position.
• He occupied the same post for fifteen years.
• Few women occupy leadership roles in this organization.

Synonymes : hold, fill

Expressions courantes : occupy a position, occupy a post, occupy a role

captiver, retenir

Garder l’intérêt de quelqu’un et retenir son attention.

En anglais simple : To keep someone interested and paying attention.

• The story occupied the children’s attention.
• She occupied the guests with amusing stories.
• His performance occupied our attention until the very end.

Synonymes : engage, absorb, hold

Expressions courantes : occupy someone’s attention, occupy an audience