Succeder

Succeder, in its French forms spelled with the circumflex as succéder, is a verb meaning to follow in time or order, to come after someone, or to take over a position or function. It is used when describing succession in occupations, titles, or offices, for example: “Elle a succédé à son père.” It can also express the idea of succeeding someone in a lineage or in a role.

The verb derives from Latin succedere, meaning to come after or to follow, formed from the elements that convey moving forward in time or position. In modern French, succéder is commonly used with the preposition à to indicate the person or role being succeeded: “succéder à quelqu’un” or “succéder à un trône.” Its semantic range thus centers on order, sequence, and replacement rather than on success or achievement in the sense of “to succeed” as in “to accomplish.”

Noun forms related to succéder include successeur (the successor) and succession (the act or process of succeeding, or the order of heirs or officeholders). The verb’s conjugation places it among regular ER-type verbs, with present forms such as je succède, tu succèdes, il succède, nous succédons, vous succédez, ils succèdent, and the past participle succédé. A related present participle form, succédant, is used in some constructions to describe a person or thing that is in the act of succeeding.

In usage, succéder is common in legal, administrative, and historical writing to describe transfer of authority, inheritance, or sequence. It is distinct from réussir, which denotes successful achievement or completion, and from succéder in other Romance languages that may carry different nuances such as “to happen” in Italian or Spanish.