faire
English
editAdjective
editfaire
Noun
editfaire (plural faires)
Usage notes
editSometimes used deliberately to convey an archaic feeling, e.g. "Renaissance faire"
See also
editAnagrams
editFrench
editEtymology
editFrom Middle French faire, from Old French faire, from Latin facere. The past historic and imperfect subjunctive stem fi- (fis, fis, fit...) originated in the Latin form fēcī, with metaphony (*/ˈfed͡zi/ > */ˈfit͡s/).
Pronunciation
editVerb
editfaire
- (transitive) to do
- faire la vaisselle ― to do the washing-up.
- Qu’est-ce que tu fais ? ― What are you doing?
- Fais pas ça. ― Don't do that.
- (transitive) to make
- faire une erreur ― to make a mistake.
- faire un voyage ― to take a trip
- (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.
- 2021, Zaz, Tout là-haut:
- Si on s’en allait tout là-haut pour mieux s’imprégner des couleurs, saurions-nous faire taire notre égo ?
- If we went all the way up there to soak up the colours better, could we silence [make silent] our ego?
- (transitive) to act like (something)
- Fais pas ton innocent avec moi.
- Don't act like you're so innocent around me./Don't give me that innocent act.
- (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.
- Ça fait bizarre.
- That seems/looks bizarre; that gives a bizarre effect/appearance/result.
- Ça fait très monsieur, ta cravate.
- Your tie makes you look like a real gentleman.
- (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.
- Est-ce que tu t’es fait couper les cheveux ?
- Did you get your hair cut?
- (reflexive) to ripen (of fruit), to mature
- (reflexive, ~ à) to become used to, to get used to
- Synonyms: s’adapter à, s’habituer à
- Je ne m’y suis toujours pas fait. ― I still haven't got used to it.
- 2002, Jean-Mariee Bessette, Fernand Meyssonnier, Paroles de bourreau : témoignage unique d'un exécuteur des arrets criminêls:
- Maintenant je pense que, si certains condamnés ont du courage, c’est parce qu’ils se sont faits à l’idée de mourir.
- Now I think that, if some convicts are brave, it is because they have got used to the idea of dying.
- (slang, reflexive, transitive) to do (to have sex with)
- (informal, intransitive) to defecate; (metaphorically) to shit oneself (to be terrified)
- L’enfant a fait dans son pantalon.
- The child soiled his trousers.
- Ils viennent d’entendre les nouvelles et ils font dans leur culotte.
- They've just heard the news and they're shitting themselves.
- (reflexive) to become, to get
- to set a price, put a price tag (on), sell
- Et à combien le feriez vous ce plumeau?
- And how much for this feather duster?
- (literally, “And how much would you sell this feather duster?”)
Usage notes
edit- 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
editinfinitive | 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). |
infinitive | simple | se faire | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
compound | s'être + past participle | ||||||
present participle or gerund1 | simple | se faisant /sə fə.zɑ̃/ | |||||
compound | ayant or étant + 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 | me fais /mə fɛ/ |
te fais /tə fɛ/ |
se fait /sə fɛ/ |
nous faisons /nu fə.zɔ̃/ |
vous faites /vu fɛt/ |
se font /sə fɔ̃/ |
imperfect | me faisais /mə fə.zɛ/ |
te faisais /tə fə.zɛ/ |
se faisait /sə fə.zɛ/ |
nous faisions /nu fə.zjɔ̃/ |
vous faisiez /vu fə.zje/ |
se faisaient /sə fə.zɛ/ | |
past historic2 | me fis /mə fi/ |
te fis /tə fi/ |
se fit /sə fi/ |
nous fîmes /nu fim/ |
vous fîtes /vu fit/ |
se firent /sə fiʁ/ | |
future | me ferai /mə fə.ʁe/ |
te feras /tə fə.ʁa/ |
se fera /sə fə.ʁa/ |
nous ferons /nu fə.ʁɔ̃/ |
vous ferez /vu fə.ʁe/ |
se feront /sə fə.ʁɔ̃/ | |
conditional | me ferais /mə fə.ʁɛ/ |
te ferais /tə fə.ʁɛ/ |
se ferait /sə fə.ʁɛ/ |
nous ferions /nu fə.ʁjɔ̃/ |
vous feriez /vu fə.ʁje/ |
se feraient /sə fə.ʁɛ/ | |
(compound tenses) |
present perfect | present indicative of s'être + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle | ||||||
past anterior2 | past historic of s'être + past participle | ||||||
future perfect | future of s'être + past participle | ||||||
conditional perfect | conditional of s'être + past participle | ||||||
subjunctive | que je (j’) | que tu | qu’il, qu’elle | que nous | que vous | qu’ils, qu’elles | |
(simple tenses) |
present | me fasse /mə fas/ |
te fasses /tə fas/ |
se fasse /sə fas/ |
nous fassions /nu fa.sjɔ̃/ |
vous fassiez /vu fa.sje/ |
se fassent /sə fas/ |
imperfect2 | me fisse /mə fis/ |
te fisses /tə fis/ |
se fît /sə fi/ |
nous fissions /nu fi.sjɔ̃/ |
vous fissiez /vu fi.sje/ |
se fissent /sə fis/ | |
(compound tenses) |
past | present subjunctive of s'être + past participle | |||||
pluperfect2 | imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle | ||||||
imperative | – | – | – | ||||
simple | — | fais-toi /fɛ.twa/ |
— | faisons-nous /fə.zɔ̃.nu/ |
faites-vous /fɛt.vu/ |
— | |
compound | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | — | simple imperative of s'être + past participle | simple imperative of s'être + 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). |
Derived terms
editFrench terms starting with “faire”
French terms starting with “se_faire”
- à Rome, fais comme les Romains
- autant que faire se peut
- avoir fait son temps
- avoir fort à faire
- bien fait
- ça commence à bien faire
- ça ne fait rien
- ce faisant
- ce qui est fait est fait
- cela fait zir
- chemin faisant
- c’est comme si c’était fait
- en faire des caisses
- en faire des tonnes
- être fait comme un rat
- fais ce que je dis, pas ce que je fais
- fais de beaux rêves
- fait que
- fait-tout
- grand bien te fasse
- grand bien vous fasse
- homme à tout faire
- il faut de tout pour faire un monde
- je ne te le fais pas dire
- je ne vous le fais pas dire
- la faire longue
- le mal est fait
- le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres
- les bons comptes font les bons amis
- les jeux sont faits
- l’habit ne fait pas le moine
- l’occasion fait le larron
- l’union fait la force
- mon siège est fait
- ne faire aucun doute
- ne faire ni chaud ni froid
- ne faire qu’un
- ne faire qu’une bouchée
- ne pas faire dans la demi-mesure
- ne pas faire dans la dentelle
- ne pas faire de mal à une mouche
- ne pas se le faire dire deux fois
- n’avoir que faire
- Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour
- plus facile à dire qu’à faire
- plus fait douceur que violence
- pour ce faire
- pour faire court
- pour quoi faire
- quoi faire
- réflexion faite
- rien n’y fait
- Rome ne s’est pas faite en un jour
- savoir y faire
- si fait
- s’en faire
- tant qu’à faire
- tous les jours que Dieu fait
- tout compte fait
- tout fait
- vite fait
- voilà qui est fait
Related terms
editFurther reading
edit- “faire”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Anagrams
editGerman
editPronunciation
editAudio: (file)
Adjective
editfaire
- inflection of fair:
Irish
editPronunciation
editNoun
editfaire f (genitive singular faire, nominative plural fairí)
- verbal noun of fair
- watch (act of guarding)
- wake (period after death)
- Synonym: tórramh
Declension
editDerived terms
editVerb
editfaire
Mutation
editIrish 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. |
References
edit- ^ Quiggin, E. C. (1906) A Dialect of Donegal, Cambridge University Press, § 200, page 76
Further reading
edit- 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
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old English fæger
Adjective
editfaire
Descendants
edit- English: fair
Middle French
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old French faire.
Verb
editfaire
- to do
- to make
- to choose; to elect
- 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 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
edit- 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
edit- French: faire
Norman
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old French faire, from Latin facere.
Verb
editfaire (Guernsey)
- to make
- to do
- 1903, Edgar MacCulloch, “Proverbs, Weather Sayings, etc.”, in Guernsey Folk Lore[1], pages 535-536:
- De la St. Michel à Noué un pllante ne sait pas chu que nou li fait.
- From Michaelmas to Christmas a plant does not know what you do to it.
Derived terms
edit- faire câod (“to be warm (out)”)
Occitan
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editVerb
editfaire
Conjugation
editsimple | compound | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
infinitive | faire | aver fach | |||||
gerund | fasent | use gerund of aver + past participle | |||||
past participle | fach | — | |||||
person | singular | plural | |||||
first | second | third | first | second | third | ||
indicative | ieu | tu | el | nosautres | vosautres | eles | |
present | fau | fas | fa | fasèm | fasètz | fan | |
imperfect | fasiái | fasiás | fasiá | fasiam | fasiatz | fasián | |
preterite | faguèri | faguères | faguèt | faguèrem | faguèretz | faguèron | |
future | farai | faràs | farà | farem | faretz | faràn | |
conditional | fariái | fariás | fariá | fariam | fariatz | farián | |
conditional 2nd form1 | faguèra | faguèras | faguèra | fagueram | fagueratz | faguèran | |
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 | faga | fagas | faga | fagam | fagatz | fagan | |
imperfect | faguèsse | faguèsses | faguèsse | faguèssem | faguèssetz | faguèsson | |
compound tenses |
past | use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle | |||||
pluperfect | use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle | ||||||
imperative | — | tu | — | nosautres | vosautres | — | |
fai | fagam | fasètz | 1Now chiefly obsolete, still in use in some Limousin and Vivaro-Alpin dialects | ||||
Old French
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editVerb
editfaire
Conjugation
editThis 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
editScottish Gaelic
editEtymology
editVerbal noun from fair (“to watch”), for which see aire (“care, heed, attention”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editfaire f (genitive singular faire, plural fairean)
- watch (the act or period of watching or guarding)
Derived terms
editMutation
edit- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English obsolete forms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French terms derived from Proto-Italic
- French terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- French terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- French terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- 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 1-syllable words
- French terms with IPA pronunciation
- French terms with audio pronunciation
- French terms with homophones
- French lemmas
- French verbs
- French modal verbs
- French transitive verbs
- French terms with collocations
- French terms with usage examples
- French terms with quotations
- French impersonal verbs
- French reflexive verbs
- French slang
- French informal terms
- French intransitive verbs
- French third group verbs
- French irregular verbs
- German terms with audio pronunciation
- German non-lemma forms
- German adjective forms
- Irish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Irish lemmas
- Irish nouns
- Irish feminine nouns
- Irish verbal nouns
- Irish fourth-declension nouns
- Irish non-lemma forms
- Irish verb forms
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English adjectives
- Middle French terms inherited from Old French
- Middle French terms derived from Old French
- 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 derived from Latin
- Norman lemmas
- Norman verbs
- Guernsey Norman
- Norman terms with quotations
- 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 terms with IPA pronunciation
- Old French lemmas
- Old French verbs
- Old French verbs with strong-sd preterite
- Old French third group verbs
- Old French verbs ending in -re
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- Scottish Gaelic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Scottish Gaelic lemmas
- Scottish Gaelic nouns
- Scottish Gaelic feminine nouns