patauger

French

Etymology

From patte.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pa.to.ʒe/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

patauger

1. to paddle around, splash about

   Synonyms: barboter, s’ébattre

2. to squelch around, wade through (in mud, in wet terrain)
3. to flounder around (in mud or snow)

   Synonym: se débattre

4. (figurative) to flounder, get bogged down

   Synonyms: s’empêtrer, s’embrouiller

   • 2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 2, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:

     Alors j’ai repensé à Saskia, à ce qu’elle m’avait dit au Récif, un soir que je pataugeais dans un atelier de traquage numérique : […]

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

This is a regular -er verb, but the stem is written patauge- before endings that begin with -a- or -o- (to indicate that the -g- is a "soft" /ʒ/ and not a "hard" /ɡ/). This spelling-change occurs in all verbs in -ger, such as neiger and manger.

Conjugation of patauger (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	patauger
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	pataugeant /pa.to.ʒɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		pataugé /pa.to.ʒe/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	patauge /pa.toʒ/	patauges /pa.toʒ/	patauge /pa.toʒ/	pataugeons /pa.to.ʒɔ̃/	pataugez /pa.to.ʒe/	pataugent /pa.toʒ/
	imperfect	pataugeais /pa.to.ʒɛ/	pataugeais /pa.to.ʒɛ/	pataugeait /pa.to.ʒɛ/	pataugions /pa.to.ʒjɔ̃/	pataugiez /pa.to.ʒje/	pataugeaient /pa.to.ʒɛ/
	past historic2	pataugeai /pa.to.ʒe/	pataugeas /pa.to.ʒa/	pataugea /pa.to.ʒa/	pataugeâmes /pa.to.ʒam/	pataugeâtes /pa.to.ʒat/	pataugèrent /pa.to.ʒɛʁ/
	future	pataugerai /pa.toʒ.ʁe/	pataugeras /pa.toʒ.ʁa/	pataugera /pa.toʒ.ʁa/	pataugerons /pa.toʒ.ʁɔ̃/	pataugerez /pa.toʒ.ʁe/	pataugeront /pa.toʒ.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	pataugerais /pa.toʒ.ʁɛ/	pataugerais /pa.toʒ.ʁɛ/	pataugerait /pa.toʒ.ʁɛ/	pataugerions /pa.to.ʒə.ʁjɔ̃/	pataugeriez /pa.to.ʒə.ʁje/	pataugeraient /pa.toʒ.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	patauge /pa.toʒ/	patauges /pa.toʒ/	patauge /pa.toʒ/	pataugions /pa.to.ʒjɔ̃/	pataugiez /pa.to.ʒje/	pataugent /pa.toʒ/
	imperfect2	pataugeasse /pa.to.ʒas/	pataugeasses /pa.to.ʒas/	pataugeât /pa.to.ʒa/	pataugeassions /pa.to.ʒa.sjɔ̃/	pataugeassiez /pa.to.ʒa.sje/	pataugeassent /pa.to.ʒas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	patauge /pa.toʒ/	—	pataugeons /pa.to.ʒɔ̃/	pataugez /pa.to.ʒe/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• pataugeoire

Further reading

• “patauger”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• pâturage, tapageur