Faire (To Do, To Make)
The verb faire is one of the most versatile and frequently used verbs in French. It has a wide range of meanings and is used in many everyday expressions.
Faire is commonly used to:
- Talk about what you do or make
- Describe activities, sports, and hobbies
- Express the weather
- Form many common idiomatic expressions
In addition, faire is often used as an impersonal verb, especially when talking about the weather.
Examples:
- Il fait beau. – It is nice weather.
- Il fait froid. – It is cold.
- Je fais mes devoirs. – I do my homework.
- Elle fait un gâteau. – She is making a cake.
Because of its many uses, faire is considered one of the essential verbs to master in French.
Faire To do To make
Je fais
Tu fais
Il-Elle-On fait
Vous faites
Nous faisons
Ils-Elles font
Pronunciation Note
The nous form of faire has a different pronunciation from the other present tense forms:
- Nous faisons – the ai is pronounced /ə/ (like the e in the).
This irregular pronunciation is unique to the nous form and should be memorized.
Other Verbs Conjugated Like Faire
Several verbs are formed by adding a prefix to faire. These verbs follow the same conjugation pattern as faire.
Some common examples include:
- Refaire – to do again; to redo
- Défaire – to undo
Because these verbs are based on faire, they have the same irregular conjugation in the present tense, including the nous faisons pattern (e.g., nous refaisons, nous défaisons).
Expressions with faire
à la maison: at home:
Faire la cuisine To cook
Faire un gâteau To bake
Faire le ménage To do the house work
Faire la lessive To do the laundry
Faire les poussières To dust
Faire le repassage To iron
Faire la vaisselle To do the dishes
Faire son lit To make one’s bed
Faire les courses To go grocery shopping
Expressions with faire – à l’école: Expressions with “faire” – at school
Faire ses devoirs To do one’s homework
Faire des progrès To make progress
Faire des fautes To make mistakes
Expressions with faire – du sport: Expressions with *faire* – *du sport*:
Faire du sport To exercise
Faire du vélo To bike
Faire du patinage To ice skate
Faire du football To play soccer
les loisirs leisure activities
Faire une promenade To take a walk
Faire un voyage To takea trip
Expressions with faire – le temps: Expressions with *faire* – weather:
Quel temps fait-il? How is the weather?
Il fait chaud It’swarm
Il fait froid It’scold
Il fait bon It’snice
Il fait mauvais It’s bad
Il fait doux It’smild
Il fait soleil It’s sunny
Il fait jour It’s light out
Il fait nuit It’s night out
Other expressions with faire:
Faire attention To pay attention
Faire la tête To be moody
Faire peur (à) To scare
Faire croire To make someone believe
Faire la queue To queue
Faire partie de To be apart of
Faire la grasse matinée To sleep in