gauler

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French gauler (“to knock down with a pole”), from Old French gauler, wauller (“to fight with a pole”), from gaule, waulle (“long pole, rod”), from Frankish *walu (“stick”), from Proto-Germanic *waluz (“stick, root”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). By surface analysis, gaule +‎ -er. More at gaule.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡo.le/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

gauler

1. (transitive) to beat, beat down (with a pole)
2. (transitive, colloquial) to catch

   Synonyms: attraper, prendre

   • 2015 January, Virginie Despentes, Vernon Subutex, volume 1, Éditions Grasset, →ISBN, page 16; republished as Frank Wynne, transl., 2018:

     Séverine serrait les dents. Vernon s’était fait gauler bêtement — et il avait été surpris qu’elle ne le quitte pas immédiatement.

     Séverine gritted her teeth. Vernon had been stupidly caught in the act — and had been surprised that she did not leave him there and then.

Conjugation

Conjugation of gauler (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	gauler
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	gaulant /ɡo.lɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		gaulé /ɡo.le/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	gaule /ɡol/	gaules /ɡol/	gaule /ɡol/	gaulons /ɡo.lɔ̃/	gaulez /ɡo.le/	gaulent /ɡol/
	imperfect	gaulais /ɡo.lɛ/	gaulais /ɡo.lɛ/	gaulait /ɡo.lɛ/	gaulions /ɡo.ljɔ̃/	gauliez /ɡo.lje/	gaulaient /ɡo.lɛ/
	past historic2	gaulai /ɡo.le/	gaulas /ɡo.la/	gaula /ɡo.la/	gaulâmes /ɡo.lam/	gaulâtes /ɡo.lat/	gaulèrent /ɡo.lɛʁ/
	future	gaulerai /ɡol.ʁe/	gauleras /ɡol.ʁa/	gaulera /ɡol.ʁa/	gaulerons /ɡol.ʁɔ̃/	gaulerez /ɡol.ʁe/	gauleront /ɡol.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	gaulerais /ɡol.ʁɛ/	gaulerais /ɡol.ʁɛ/	gaulerait /ɡol.ʁɛ/	gaulerions /ɡo.lə.ʁjɔ̃/	gauleriez /ɡo.lə.ʁje/	gauleraient /ɡol.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	gaule /ɡol/	gaules /ɡol/	gaule /ɡol/	gaulions /ɡo.ljɔ̃/	gauliez /ɡo.lje/	gaulent /ɡol/
	imperfect2	gaulasse /ɡo.las/	gaulasses /ɡo.las/	gaulât /ɡo.la/	gaulassions /ɡo.la.sjɔ̃/	gaulassiez /ɡo.la.sje/	gaulassent /ɡo.las/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	gaule /ɡol/	—	gaulons /ɡo.lɔ̃/	gaulez /ɡo.le/	—
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).

Further reading

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