pâte
/pat/feminine
The English phrase 'dough' is translated to French as pâte.
pâte refers to a mix of flour and other ingredients. While it is the word for dough, it can also be used to describe other thick mixtures such as batter, paste or even pasta and noodles.
Meaning: mix of flour and other ingredients (noun)
How do you pronounce it?
/pat/
Did you know?
- The word pâte is used to describe 'paste' in the context of art, such as pâte à modeler for modelling clay.
- Despite the similarity in sound, the French word pâte is a cognate of the Italian 'pasta', both tracing back to the Greek word for a cooked dough mass.
- Because pâte covers so many materials, French uses the phrase pâte à… to specify the purpose, such as pâte à tartiner for a spreadable paste like Nutella.
Examples in context
- Je pétris la pâte.I am kneading the dough.This sentence is useful for describing the action of kneading the pâte.Tatoeba #4595644 by sacredceltic, translation #1665584 by Amastan
- J'ai frit la pâte.I fried the dough.This sentence is useful for describing the action of frying the pâte.Tatoeba #8328532 by Julien_PDC, translation #6365727 by mervert1
- Il a aplati la pâte.He flattened the dough.This sentence is useful for describing the action of flattening the pâte.Tatoeba #2906053 by Amastan, translation #5226565 by Airvian
- Pour cette recette, vous aurez besoin de pâte à pizza.For this recipe, you will need pizza dough.
- La pâte à pain nécessite une longue période de fermentation.Bread dough requires a long fermentation period.
- J'adore faire des tartes, mais je déteste préparer la pâte à tarte.I love making pies, but I hate preparing the pastry dough.
- Quand je rentre chez moi tard le soir, j'aime préparer ma propre pâte à pizza.When I come home late at night, I enjoy making my own pizza dough.
- Pour les tartes, j'utilise généralement de la pâte brisée.For pies, I usually use shortcrust pastry.
- Je vais acheter de la pâte.I'm going to buy some dough.
- 17 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Hugo and Manon are baking in a kitchen.
- HugoManon, est-ce que la pâte est prête ?Manon, is the dough ready?
- ManonOui, elle a bien gonflé.Yes, it has risen well.
- HugoSuper, je vais l'étaler.Great, I am going to roll it out.
- ManonD'accord, Hugo, je prépare les tomates.Okay, Hugo, I'll prepare the tomatoes.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “dough” translations and entries pâte, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries pâte, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
