faire
English
Adjective
faire
Noun
faire (plural faires)
Usage notes
Sometimes used deliberately to convey an archaic feeling, e.g. "Renaissance faire"
Anagrams
French
Etymology
From Middle French faire, from Old French faire, feire, fere, from Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō, from Proto-Italic *fakiō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).
Pronunciation
Verb
faire
- (transitive) to do
- Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? ― What are you doing?
- Faire la vaisselle. ― To do the washing-up.
- (transitive) to make
- Faire une erreur. ― To make a mistake.
- (transitive) to say (of a person), to go (of an animal)
- "Je t’aime," fit-il. ― "I love you," he said.
- Le chat fait "miaou". ― The cat goes "meow".
- (transitive) to make (cause someone or something to do something)
- Tu me fais rire. ― You make me laugh.
- La chanson me fait pleurer. ― The song makes me cry.
- (impersonal) To be (of the weather or various situations).
- Il fait chaud/froid/noir/beau dehors.
- It is hot/cold/dark/nice outside.
- Ça fait dix ans que nous nous connaissons.
- We have known each other for ten years.
- (reflexive) to do, to make (oneself)
- Elle se fait les ongles. ― She is doing her nails.
- (reflexive, followed by an infinitive) to be, to get (used for a passive action)
- Se faire piquer. ― To be stung.
- Je me suis fait avoir. ― I got screwed.
- (reflexive) to ripen (of fruit), to mature (, etc.)
- (reflexive, ~ à) to become used to, to get used to
- (slang, reflexive, transitive) to do (to have sex with)
- (reflexive) to become, to get
Usage notes
- When it is followed by an infinitive, the past participle fait is invariable.
- Elle s'est fait comprendre, not *elle s'est faite comprendre.
Conjugation
infinitive | simple | faire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | faisant /fə.zɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant + past participle | ||||||
past participle | fait /fɛ/ | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | je (j’) | tu | il, elle, on | nous | vous | ils, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | fais /fɛ/ |
fais /fɛ/ |
fait /fɛ/ |
faisons /fə.zɔ̃/ |
faites /fɛt/ |
font /fɔ̃/ |
imperfect | faisais /fə.zɛ/ |
faisais /fə.zɛ/ |
faisait /fə.zɛ/ |
faisions /fə.zjɔ̃/ |
faisiez /fə.zje/ |
faisaient /fə.zɛ/ | |
past historic2 | fis /fi/ |
fis /fi/ |
fit /fi/ |
fîmes /fim/ |
fîtes /fit/ |
firent /fiʁ/ | |
future | ferai /fə.ʁe/ |
feras /fə.ʁa/ |
fera /fə.ʁa/ |
ferons /fə.ʁɔ̃/ |
ferez /fə.ʁe/ |
feront /fə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | ferais /fə.ʁɛ/ |
ferais /fə.ʁɛ/ |
ferait /fə.ʁɛ/ |
ferions /fə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
feriez /fə.ʁje/ |
feraient /fə.ʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | fasse /fas/ |
fasses /fas/ |
fasse /fas/ |
fassions /fa.sjɔ̃/ |
fassiez /fa.sje/ |
fassent /fas/ |
imperfect2 | fisse /fis/ |
fisses /fis/ |
fît /fi/ |
fissions /fi.sjɔ̃/ |
fissiez /fi.sje/ |
fissent /fis/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | fais /fɛ/ |
— | faisons /fə.zɔ̃/ |
faites /fɛt/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en. | |||||||
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way:
(Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81). |
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Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “faire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
German
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Adjective
faire
- inflection of fair:
Irish
Noun
faire f (genitive singular faire)
- verbal noun of fair
Declension
Bare forms (no plural of this noun)
|
Forms with the definite article
|
Derived terms
- túr faire (“watch-tower”)
Verb
faire
- present subjunctive analytic of fair
Mutation
Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Eclipsis |
faire | fhaire | bhfaire |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Further reading
- Ó Dónaill, Niall (1977) “faire”, in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, Dublin: An Gúm, →ISBN
- de Bhaldraithe, Tomás (1959) “faire”, in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm
- “faire”, in New English-Irish Dictionary, Foras na Gaeilge, 2013-2024
Middle English
Alternative forms
Adjective
faire
Descendants
- English: fair
Middle French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Old French faire, feire, fere, from Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.
Verb
faire
- to do
- to make
- to choose; to elect
- 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, pages 7, lines 8-9:
- entre tant que on fera un pappe nous pourrons bien aler en Venisse
- while they are electing a Pope, we could well go to Venice
Conjugation
- Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.
infinitive | simple | faire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | avoir + past participle | ||||||
present participle1 or gerund2 | simple | faisant | |||||
compound | present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past participle | fait, faict | ||||||
singular | plural | ||||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | ie (i’) | tu | il, elle | nous | vous | ilz, elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | fais | fais | fait, fet | faisons | faites | font |
imperfect | faisois, faisoys | faisois, faisoys | faisoit, faisoyt | faisions | faisiez | faisoient, faisoyent | |
past historic | fis | fis | fit | fismes | fistes | firent | |
future | feroie, feroye | feras | fera | ferons | ferez | feront | |
conditional | ferois, feroys | ferois, feroys | feroit, feroyt | ferions | feriez | feroient, feroyent | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | past historic of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que ie (i’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ilz, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | face | faces | face | facions | faciez | facent |
imperfect | fisse | fisses | fist | fissions | fissiez | fissent | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | fais | — | faisons | faites | — | |
compound | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | simple imperative of avoir + past participle | — | |
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679. | |||||||
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180). |
Descendants
- French: faire
Norman
Alternative forms
- faithe (Jersey)
Etymology
From Old French faire, from Latin faciō, facere, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).
Verb
faire
Derived terms
- faire câod (“to be warm (out)”)
Novial
Noun
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Occitan
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.
Verb
faire
Conjugation
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | faire | aver fasent | |||||
gerund | faire | use gerund of aver + past participle | |||||
past participle | fasent | — | |||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | ieu | tu | el | nosautres | vosautres | eles | |
present | fach | fau | fas | fa | fasèm | fasètz | |
imperfect | fan | fasiái | fasiás | fasiá | fasiam | fasiatz | |
preterite | fasián | farai | faràs | farà | farem | faretz | |
future | faràn | faguèri | faguères | faguèt | faguèrem | faguèretz | |
conditional | faguèron | fariái | fariás | fariá | fariam | fariatz | |
conditional 2nd form1 | fasètz | {{{50}}} | {{{51}}} | {{{52}}} | {{{53}}} | {{{54}}} | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | use the present tense of aver + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | use the preterite tense of aver + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | use the future tense of aver + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | use the conditional tense of aver + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que ieu | que tu | que el | que nosautres | que vosautres | que eles | |
present | farián | faga | fagas | faga | fagam | fagatz | |
imperfect | fagan | faguèsse | faguèsses | faguèsse | faguèssem | faguèssetz | |
compound tenses |
past | use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle | ||||||
imperative | — | tu | — | nosautres | vosautres | — | |
faguèsson | fai | fagam | 1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects | ||||
Old French
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.
Verb
faire
- to do
Conjugation
This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.
simple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | faire | avoir fait | |||||
gerund | en faisant | gerund of avoir + past participle | |||||
present participle | faisant | ||||||
past participle | fait | ||||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | jo | tu | il | nos | vos | il | |
simple tenses |
present | faz, fai | fais | fait | faimes, faisons | faites | font |
imperfect | faisoie, faiseie | faisoies, faiseies | faisoit, faiseit | faisiiens, faisiens | faisiiez, faisiez | faisoient, faiseient | |
preterite | fis | feṣis | fist | feṣimes | feṣistes | firent | |
future | ferai | feras | fera | ferons | feroiz, fereiz, ferez | feront | |
conditional | feroie, fereie | feroies, fereies | feroit, fereit | feriiens, feriens | feriiez, feriez | feroient, fereient | |
compound tenses |
present perfect | present tense of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
past anterior | preterite tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional tense of avoir + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que jo | que tu | qu’il | que nos | que vos | qu’il | |
simple tenses |
present | face | faces | face | faciens, façons | faciez | facent |
imperfect | feṣisse | feṣisses | feṣist | feṣissons, feṣissiens | feṣissoiz, feṣissez, feṣissiez | feṣissent | |
compound tenses |
past | present subjunctive of avoir + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | tu | – | nos | vos | – | |
— | fa | — | faimes, faisons | faites | — |
Descendants
- French: faire
Scottish Gaelic
Noun
faire f (genitive singular faire, plural fairean)
- watch (the act or period of watching or guarding)
Derived terms
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English obsolete forms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French terms inherited from Middle French
- French terms derived from Middle French
- French terms inherited from Old French
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms inherited from Latin
- French terms derived from Latin
- French terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- French terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio links
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French verbs
- French modal verbs
- French transitive verbs
- French terms with usage examples
- French impersonal verbs
- French reflexive verbs
- French slang
- French third group verbs
- French irregular verbs
- German terms with audio links
- German non-lemma forms
- German adjective forms
- Irish lemmas
- Irish nouns
- Irish feminine nouns
- Irish verbal nouns
- Irish fourth-declension nouns
- Irish non-lemma forms
- Irish verb forms
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- Middle French terms inherited from Latin
- Middle French terms derived from Latin
- Middle French lemmas
- Middle French verbs
- Middle French terms with quotations
- Middle French third group verbs
- Norman terms inherited from Old French
- Norman terms derived from Old French
- Norman terms inherited from Latin
- Norman terms derived from Latin
- Norman terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Norman terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Norman lemmas
- Norman verbs
- Guernsey Norman
- Occitan terms inherited from Latin
- Occitan terms derived from Latin
- Occitan lemmas
- Occitan verbs
- Occitan third group verbs
- Old French terms inherited from Latin
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French verbs
- Old French verbs with strong-sd preterite
- Old French third group verbs
- Old French verbs ending in -re
- Old French irregular verbs
- Scottish Gaelic lemmas
- Scottish Gaelic nouns
- Scottish Gaelic feminine nouns