# Faire Conjugation — Every Tense of the French Verb “To Do / To Make”

> **Faire** means “to do” and “to make”. Présent: **je fais, tu fais, il fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils font**. It also carries the weather (*il fait beau*), sports and hobbies (*faire du vélo*) and housework (*faire la cuisine*).

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Updated: 2026-09-07

## Présent — and a famously odd vous form

The singular forms behave. The plural does not: nous faisons, vous faites, ils font pull in three different directions.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je fais | I do / make |
| tu fais | you do / make |
| il / elle fait | he / she does / makes |
| nous faisons | we do / make |
| vous faites | you do / make |
| ils / elles font | they do / make |

**Vous faites is one of only three** — Almost every verb in French ends its vous form in -ez. Exactly three do not: vous êtes, vous faites and vous dites. That is the complete list, which makes vous faisez a mistake worth never making.

**⚠ Nous faisons is not pronounced how it looks** — The ai here does not say “eh”. Nous faisons is “noo fuh-ZOHN”, with a soft, swallowed middle. The same happens right through the imparfait — je faisais is “zhuh fuh-ZEH”. It is the one spelling in French that reliably lies to you.

## The weather is a thing French does

English says the weather is something. French says it does something, using the impersonal il — the same “it” as in “it’s raining”, referring to nothing in particular.

| French | Say it | Means |
|---|---|---|
| il fait beau | eel feh BOH | it’s nice / fine weather |
| il fait mauvais | eel feh moh-VEH | the weather’s bad |
| il fait chaud | eel feh SHOH | it’s hot |
| il fait froid | eel feh FRWAH | it’s cold |
| il fait du vent | eel feh dew VAHN | it’s windy |
| il fait du soleil | eel feh dew so-LAY | it’s sunny |
| il fait 20 degrés | eel feh van deh-GRAY | it’s 20 degrees |

**Rain and snow are the exceptions** — These two have their own verbs and refuse faire: il pleut (it’s raining) and il neige (it’s snowing). Everything else in the forecast is faire.

## Sport, hobbies and housework

Where English has a specific verb — to cycle, to ski, to cook — French very often uses faire plus the activity. The pattern is faire du / de la / des, chosen by the gender of what follows.

| French | Means |
|---|---|
| faire du sport | to exercise |
| faire du vélo | to cycle |
| faire de la natation | to swim (as a sport) |
| faire de la musique | to play music |
| faire les courses | to do the food shopping |
| faire la cuisine | to cook |
| faire la vaisselle | to do the washing-up |
| faire le ménage | to do the housework |
| faire la queue | to queue up |
| faire attention | to pay attention / be careful |
| faire un voyage | to take a trip |

**Faire les courses or faire du shopping?** — Les courses is the food shopping — the supermarket run. Faire du shopping is the fun kind, for clothes. Mixing them up is harmless but instantly noticeable.

## Passé composé

The participle is fait — the same word as the il form of the présent, which trips people up in reading. Il fait is “he does”; il a fait is “he did”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’ai fait | I did / have done |
| tu as fait | you did / have done |
| il / elle a fait | he / she did / have done |
| nous avons fait | we did / have done |
| vous avez fait | you did / have done |
| ils / elles ont fait | they did / have done |

## Imparfait — watch the sound, not the spelling

Built regularly from nous faisons, so the stem is fais-. The catch is entirely in the pronunciation: every form here says “fuh-”, never “fay-”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je faisais | I used to do / was doing |
| tu faisais | you used to do / was doing |
| il / elle faisait | he / she used to do / was doing |
| nous faisions | we used to do / was doing |
| vous faisiez | you used to do / was doing |
| ils / elles faisaient | they used to do / was doing |

## Futur and conditionnel — the fer- stem

The stem is fer-, which at least is short and memorable. Je ferai, “I will do”.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je ferai | I will do |
| tu feras | you will do |
| il / elle fera | he / she will do |
| nous ferons | we will do |
| vous ferez | you will do |
| ils / elles feront | they will do |

## Conditionnel

Qu’est-ce que tu ferais ? — “what would you do?” — is the conditionnel doing its most natural job.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je ferais | I would do |
| tu ferais | you would do |
| il / elle ferait | he / she would do |
| nous ferions | we would do |
| vous feriez | you would do |
| ils / elles feraient | they would do |

## Subjonctif — que je fasse

Irregular, common, and worth knowing: il faut que je fasse, “I have to do”. The fass- stem appears nowhere else in the verb.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| je fasse | (that) I do |
| tu fasses | (that) you do |
| il / elle fasse | (that) he / she do |
| nous fassions | (that) we do |
| vous fassiez | (that) you do |
| ils / elles fassent | (that) they do |

## Impératif, and making someone do something

Fais attention ! — “be careful!” — is the imperative you will hear most.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| fais ! | do! (to one person you know) |
| faisons ! | let’s do! |
| faites ! | do! (formal, or to a group) |

One construction worth meeting early: faire + another verb means to have something done, or to make someone do it. Je fais réparer ma voiture is “I’m getting my car repaired” — not that you are repairing it yourself. Il m’a fait rire is “he made me laugh”.

## Plus-que-parfait

J’avais fait — “I had done”, for something already finished before the point in the past you are describing.

| French | English |
|---|---|
| j’avais fait | I had done |
| tu avais fait | you had done |
| il / elle avait fait | he / she had done |
| nous avions fait | we had done |
| vous aviez fait | you had done |
| ils / elles avaient fait | they had done |

## FAQ

### How do you conjugate faire in the present tense?

Je fais, tu fais, il / elle fait, nous faisons, vous faites, ils / elles font. The three plural forms are all irregular.

### Why is it vous faites and not vous faisez?

Because faire is one of only three verbs whose vous form does not end in -ez. The complete list is vous êtes, vous faites and vous dites.

### How is nous faisons pronounced?

“noo fuh-ZOHN”. The ai does not say “eh” here — it collapses to a soft “uh”. The same applies throughout the imparfait: je faisais is “zhuh fuh-ZEH”.

### How do you talk about the weather in French?

With faire: il fait beau (it’s nice), il fait froid (it’s cold), il fait du vent (it’s windy). Rain and snow are the exceptions — il pleut and il neige.

### What is the past participle of faire?

Fait, so the passé composé is j’ai fait. It looks identical to the il form of the présent.

### What does faire du vélo mean?

“To cycle.” French often uses faire plus an activity where English has a dedicated verb — faire de la natation (to swim), faire la cuisine (to cook).

### What does “je fais réparer ma voiture” mean?

“I’m getting my car repaired.” Faire plus another verb means having something done by someone else, rather than doing it yourself.

## Related guides

- Aller conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/aller-conjugation
- French verb conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/french-verb-conjugation
- Avoir conjugation: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides/avoir-conjugation
- All free French guides: https://cocoonfrench.com/guides