The verb Faire in French
What are you going to do today? What sports do you like to play? The verb faire is the verb you’ll need to talk about all of these things and more. Even though it shares many similarities with the verbs to do and to make in English, some of its usages are different in French. This is why it is important to study it!
To do / to make
In some instances, you can use the verb Faire as the French translation of to do and to make verbs in English. In French, we don’t differentiate these two verbs, we just use the verb Faire.
Examples of Faire in French:
Je vais faire mes devoirs.
I will do my homework.
Ce restaurant fait d’excellents gâteaux.
This restaurant makes excellent cakes.
Unlike the English verb ‘to do’ , Faire cannot be used as an auxiliary verb .
Using the verb Faire: Talking about Sports
When talking about a sport, you can use the verb faire before the name of the activity (noun form) instead of using the specific verb associated with the sport.
Example:
J’aime faire du tennis.
I like to play tennis.
Je fais de la natation.
I swim.
Using the verb Faire: To Be
We can use Faire to replace the verb to be in two circumstances: weather and math.
Il fait beau aujourd’hui.
It is a beautiful day.
Il fait 5 degrés.
It is 5 degrees Celsius.
Conjugating Faire in French
Faire is an irregular verb. It means that not only its endings vary, but its radical (first part of the verb) also changes. Pay close attention to the following chart with the different tenses of the verb Faire.
Pronouns | Imparfait | Passé composé | Présent |
Je | faisais | ai fait | fais |
Tu | faisais | as fait | fais |
Il/elle/on | faisait | a fait | fait |
Nous | faisions | avons fait | faisons |
Vous | faisiez | avez fait | faites |
Ils/elles | faisaient | ont fait | font |
Pronouns | Futur proche | Futur simple |
Je | vais faire | ferai |
Tu | vas faire | feras |
Il/elle/on | va faire | fera |
Nous | allons faire | ferons |
Vous | allez faire | ferez |
Ils/elles | vont faire | feront |
Time to Practice! Faire Conjugation French Grammar Practice Worksheets!
Don’t hesitate to test what you’ve learned with our extra exercises. We have created 3 printable grammar worksheets for you to practice how to conjugate the verb Faire in French!
Have fun!
