6.3 The Verb Faire

The verb faire (to do or to make) is an irregular verb, used both literally, meaning to do or to make, and in many expressions. For example, as you have just learned, for certain weather expressions we use faire. When we talk about sports, we can also use faire:

Tiger Woods fait du golf. Rafael Nadal fait du tennis.

Faire as a “substitute” verb

You can use the verb faire to ask a question: “Qu’est-ce que vous faites?” (“What are you doing?”). Usually you will reply not with the verb faire itself, but with the verb that describes the activity you are doing.

Q: Charles, que fais-tu? (Charles, what are you doing?)

R: Je mange un sandwich. (I’m eating a sandwich.)

Conjugation of Faire

The Singular and Plural Forms of the Verb Faire
Person French English
1st person singular Je fais I do/make
2nd person singular Tu fais You do/make
3rd Person  singular Il/elle/on fait He/she does/makes
1st person plural Nous faisons We do/make
2nd person plural Vous faites You do/make (formal or plural)
3rd person plural Ils/elles font They make

Important Notes

  • The singular forms are all pronounced the same
  • The vous form does not finish in “ez”

Exercice 4: Faire

Write the proper form of the verb faire in each blank. Then write an English translation for each sentence. If you do not know what a word means, make your best guess.

Fill in the Blanks

  1. Mon frère ne [Blank 1] pas de sport.
  2. Elles [Blank 2] des cours ensemble (together).
  3. Est-ce que tu [Blank 3] tes devoirs?
  4. Je ne [Blank 4] rien!
  5. Fiona, vous [Blank 5] une promenade (walk)?
  6. Je [Blank 6] du ski au Mont Tremblant.
  7. Bob, il ne [Blank 7] pas ses devoirs!
  8. Est-ce que vous [Blank 8] à Conestoga?
  9. Nous [Blank 9] du vélo (bicycle).

Exercice 5: Qu’est-ce que vous faites ?

Conjugate the verb faire in the question and the regular “er” verb in the answer.

Fill in the Blanks

Question: Charles, que [Blank 1 – faire]-tu?
Response: Je [Blank 2 – manger] un sandwich.

Question: Alors, les amis, qu’est-ce que nous [Blank 3 – faire] ce soir?
Response: Nous [Blank 4 – rencontrer] Paul et Stéphane au cinéma, bien sûr!

Question: Que [Blank 5 – faire] Marie?
Response: Elle [Blank 6 – étudier] pour l’examen.

Question: Monsieur, qu’est-ce que vous [Blank 7 – faire]?
Response: Je [Blank 8 – chercher] mes clés.

Question: Qu’est-ce qu’ils [Blank 9 – faire], les enfants?
Response: Ils [Blank 10 – jouer] au foot.

Question: Madame, qu’est-ce que je [Blank 11 – faire] après l’exercice?
Response: Vous [Blank 12 – continuer] vos devoirs, Marthe.

This section includes content derived from Liberté, originally released under CC BY-NC-SA

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Introduction to French Copyright © 2017 by Rita Palacios Ph.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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