Make Do with a French Verb
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Faire is one of the most common and useful French verbs and has irregular conjugations in just about every tense and mood. Faire literally means "to do" or "to make," but it’s also found in many idiomatic expressions and is the key to the causative construction.
Faire = to do / to make
Faire can mean either "to do" or "to make." For English speakers learning French, this is easy: you can use faire for either. For French speakers learning English, however, it’s much more difficult.*
Par exemple…
| Je fais la vaisselle. | I’m doing the dishes. | |
| Que faites-vous dans la vie ? | What do you do for a living? | |
| Je fais le lit. | I’m making the bed. | |
| Que fais-tu pour le déjeuner ? | What are you making for lunch? |
Exceptions
- "Make" with an adjective is equivalent to rendre, not faire: That makes me sad = Ça me rend triste, not
Ça me fait triste– learn more. - "Make" with a noun sometimes requires a different verb – learn more.
Faire = to be
Faire is equivalent to "to be" in two domains:
1) Weather
| Il fait chaud. | It’s hot (out). | |
| Il fait 30 degrés. | It’s 30 degrees Celsius. |
2) Math
| Un et un font deux. | One plus one is two. | |
| Trois fois quatre font douze. | Three times four is twelve. |
Faire = "to sport"
With the names of sports and other activities, faire is equivalent to the verb for that activity in English.
Par exemple…
| Il fait du cyclisme. | He bikes. | |
| J’aime faire de la randonnée. | I like hiking. | |
| Faites-vous de l’autostop ? | Do you hitchhike? |
Faire = to have done, make happen
Faire plus the infinitive is the causative construction: to have/make (someone) do (something).
Par exemple…
| Je fais tondre le gazon. | I’m having the lawn mowed. | |
| Il m’a fait pleurer. | He made me cry. |
Faire in idiomatic expressions
Faire is found in dozens of idiomatic expressions; here are just a few:
- ça ne fait rien (informal) – never mind, it doesn’t matter
- faire d’une pierre deux coups – to kill two birds with one stone
- faire exprès – to do something on purpose
- faire la tête – to sulk
- faire l’école buissonnière – to play hooky
- faire le pont – to make a long weekend
- faire partie de – to be part of
- faire un temps de Toussaint – to be cold and gloomy
Faire in action
- Does il se fait que need the subjunctive?
- Faire with feelings
- Faire + infinitive (causative construction)
- Faire + noun
Related lessons
- Faire conjugations
- Expressions with faire
- Adjectives
- Weather
- Top 10 irregular verbs
- Introduction to verbs
En español
In italiano
* In English
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