tâtonner
French
Etymology
From tâter.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ta.tɔ.ne/ ~ /tɑ.tɔ.ne/
Audio: (file)
Verb
tâtonner
- (intransitive) to feel one's way, grope around
Conjugation
Conjugation of tâtonner (see also Appendix:French verbs)
| infinitive | simple | tâtonner | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
| present participle or gerund1 | simple | tâtonnant /ta.tɔ.nɑ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɑ̃/ | |||||
| compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
| past participle | tâtonné /ta.tɔ.ne/ or /tɑ.tɔ.ne/ | ||||||
| singular | plural | ||||||
| first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
| indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
| (simple tenses) |
present | tâtonne /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonnes /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonne /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonnons /ta.tɔ.nɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɔ̃/ |
tâtonnez /ta.tɔ.ne/ or /tɑ.tɔ.ne/ |
tâtonnent /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
| imperfect | tâtonnais /ta.tɔ.nɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɛ/ |
tâtonnais /ta.tɔ.nɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɛ/ |
tâtonnait /ta.tɔ.nɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɛ/ |
tâtonnions /ta.tɔ.njɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.njɔ̃/ |
tâtonniez /ta.tɔ.nje/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nje/ |
tâtonnaient /ta.tɔ.nɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɛ/ | |
| past historic2 | tâtonnai /ta.tɔ.ne/ or /tɑ.tɔ.ne/ |
tâtonnas /ta.tɔ.na/ or /tɑ.tɔ.na/ |
tâtonna /ta.tɔ.na/ or /tɑ.tɔ.na/ |
tâtonnâmes /ta.tɔ.nam/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nam/ |
tâtonnâtes /ta.tɔ.nat/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nat/ |
tâtonnèrent /ta.tɔ.nɛʁ/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɛʁ/ | |
| future | tâtonnerai /ta.tɔn.ʁe/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁe/ |
tâtonneras /ta.tɔn.ʁa/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁa/ |
tâtonnera /ta.tɔn.ʁa/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁa/ |
tâtonnerons /ta.tɔn.ʁɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁɔ̃/ |
tâtonnerez /ta.tɔn.ʁe/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁe/ |
tâtonneront /ta.tɔn.ʁɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁɔ̃/ | |
| conditional | tâtonnerais /ta.tɔn.ʁɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁɛ/ |
tâtonnerais /ta.tɔn.ʁɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁɛ/ |
tâtonnerait /ta.tɔn.ʁɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔn.ʁɛ/ |
tâtonnerions /ta.tɔ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
tâtonneriez /ta.tɔ.nə.ʁje/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nə.ʁje/ |
tâtonneraient /ta.tɔn.ʁɛ/ or /tɑ.tɔn.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 | tâtonne /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonnes /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonne /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
tâtonnions /ta.tɔ.njɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.njɔ̃/ |
tâtonniez /ta.tɔ.nje/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nje/ |
tâtonnent /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
| imperfect2 | tâtonnasse /ta.tɔ.nas/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nas/ |
tâtonnasses /ta.tɔ.nas/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nas/ |
tâtonnât /ta.tɔ.na/ or /tɑ.tɔ.na/ |
tâtonnassions /ta.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.na.sjɔ̃/ |
tâtonnassiez /ta.tɔ.na.sje/ or /tɑ.tɔ.na.sje/ |
tâtonnassent /ta.tɔ.nas/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nas/ | |
| (compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
| pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
| imperative | – | – | – | ||||
| simple | — | tâtonne /ta.tɔn/ or /tɑ.tɔn/ |
— | tâtonnons /ta.tɔ.nɔ̃/ or /tɑ.tɔ.nɔ̃/ |
tâtonnez /ta.tɔ.ne/ or /tɑ.tɔ.ne/ |
— | |
| 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:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). | |||||||
Related terms
Further reading
- “tâtonner”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.