Faire: Examples, Sentences and Quiz in French
Introduction
Faire means “to do, to make”, and it is one of the most useful verbs in French — you will meet it in conversation, in books, in films and in every textbook. This page puts the verb to work: twelve example sentences across the tenses, a short dialogue you can act out, a tour of the verb in its most important tenses, the mistakes learners make most often, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for faire, so you can trust what you read here. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself with the quiz at the end.
Example sentences
Twelve sentences with faire, in different tenses and with different subjects. Read the French first, guess the meaning, then check the English.
- “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.”
- “Tu fais une promenade au parc tous les jours.” — “You do a walk in the park every day.”
- “J'ai fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have done the cooking every day this week.”
- “Il faisait les devoirs ce soir autrefois.” — “He used to do the homework this evening in the past.”
- “Nous ferons une promenade au parc demain.” — “We will do a walk in the park tomorrow.”
- “Tu as fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have done the cooking every day this week.”
- “Je ferais les devoirs ce soir un jour.” — “I would do the homework this evening one day.”
- “Il est important que il fasse une promenade au parc.” — “It is important that he do a walk in the park.”
- “Nous avions fait la cuisine tous les jours avant la fête.” — “We had done the cooking every day before the party.”
- “Il fera les devoirs ce soir demain.” — “He will do the homework this evening tomorrow.”
- “Ils font une promenade au parc tous les jours.” — “They do a walk in the park every day.”
- “Fais la cuisine tous les jours !” — “Do the cooking every day!”
A short dialogue
Marie and Pierre are talking about the homework this evening. Read the dialogue aloud, one voice per person, and notice how faire changes with the tense and the subject. Every form of faire below is taken from the verified tables.
Marie : Tu fais quoi, ce soir ? Pierre : “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.” Marie : Et demain ? Pierre : “Je ferai une promenade au parc demain.” — “I will do a walk in the park tomorrow.” Marie : Tu as fait ça hier aussi ? Pierre : “J'ai fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have done the cooking every day this week.” Marie : Tu ferais ça un jour ? Pierre : “Je ferais les devoirs ce soir un jour.” — “I would do the homework this evening one day.”
Notice how the dialogue moves through time: the present for what is happening now, the future for tomorrow, the passé composé for yesterday, and the conditional for what someone would do one day. The verb stays the same — only the tense changes — and that is the whole point of learning a conjugation table: one verb, many moments.
Faire in different tenses
The same verb does different jobs in different tenses. Here are the six uses of faire that matter most, each with a sentence you can copy and adapt.
The present: habits and facts
In the present, faire describes habits, facts and what is happening now. The je form is fais: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.”
The imperfect: the past as it used to be
In the imperfect, faire describes the past as it used to be — background, habit, an action in progress. The il form is faisait: “Il faisait une promenade au parc autrefois.” — “He used to do a walk in the park in the past.”
The passé composé: finished actions
In the passé composé, faire reports one finished action, built with avoir plus the participle fait. The je form is ai fait: “J'ai fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “I have done the cooking every day this week.”
The future: what will happen
In the future, faire talks about what will happen. The nous form is ferons: “Nous ferons les devoirs ce soir demain.” — “We will do the homework this evening tomorrow.”
The conditional: what would happen
In the conditional, faire talks about what would happen. The tu form is ferais: “Tu ferais une promenade au parc un jour.” — “You would do a walk in the park one day.”
The subjunctive: wishes and doubts
In the subjunctive, faire appears after triggers such as il est important que. The form is fasse, and the sentence keeps the same complement as the other tenses: “Il est important que je fasse la cuisine tous les jours.” — “It is important that I do the cooking every day.”
Common mistakes
Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Je faire les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir.”
The infinitive faire never takes a subject. After je you need the conjugated form fais.
Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Tu fais les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Tu fais les devoirs ce soir.”
fais is the je form. With tu you need fais. Check the subject before you choose the form.
Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir hier.”
✓ Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir hier.”
The time word hier points to the past, so a finished action needs the passé composé ai fait, not the present.
Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que tu fais une promenade au parc.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que tu fasses une promenade au parc.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive: fasses, not the indicative fais.
Forgetting the auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je fait les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir.”
The passé composé of faire needs the auxiliary avoir plus the participle fait: the full je form is ai fait.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on faire. Choose the right answer, then check the answer key below.
What is the je form of faire in the Present indicative?
- A) faites
- B) fais
- C) fait
- D) faisons
What is the tu form of faire in the Present indicative?
- A) faites
- B) fais
- C) fait
- D) faisons
What is the il/elle form of faire in the Present perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ai fait
- B) as fait
- C) avons fait
- D) a fait
What is the nous form of faire in the Imperfect?
- A) faisions
- B) faisais
- C) faisait
- D) faisiez
What is the tu form of faire in the Future?
- A) ferai
- B) fera
- C) ferons
- D) feras
What is the je form of faire in the Conditional?
- A) ferions
- B) feriez
- C) ferais
- D) ferait
What is the il/elle form of faire in the Present subjunctive?
- A) fassions
- B) fassiez
- C) fasse
- D) fasses
What is the je form of faire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)?
- A) avais fait
- B) avait fait
- C) avions fait
- D) aviez fait
What is the gerund of faire?
- A) en disant
- B) en pouvant
- C) en voulant
- D) en faisant
What does faire mean in English?
- A) to want
- B) to do, to make
- C) to say
- D) to be able to, can
Answer key
- B) fais — the je form of faire in the Present indicative is fais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) fais — the tu form of faire in the Present indicative is fais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) a fait — the il/elle form of faire in the Present perfect (passé composé) is a fait. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) faisions — the nous form of faire in the Imperfect is faisions. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) feras — the tu form of faire in the Future is feras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ferais — the je form of faire in the Conditional is ferais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) fasse — the il/elle form of faire in the Present subjunctive is fasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) avais fait — the je form of faire in the Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is avais fait. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) en faisant — the gerund of faire is en faisant. The other options are the gerunds of neighbouring verbs.
- B) to do, to make — faire means “to do, to make” in English. The other options are the meanings of neighbouring verbs.
Frequently asked questions
What does faire mean in English?
faire means “to do, to make”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is faire regular or irregular?
faire is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is faisant and the past participle is fait.
How do I practise faire every day?
Say one sentence with faire in the present, one in the passé composé and one in the future every day, using the examples on this page as models — for example, “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.”, “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” and “Je ferai les devoirs ce soir demain.”. Then take the quiz again and check your answers against the key.
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for faire, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of faire — every tense of faire in one place.
- Faire in the passé composé tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Faire examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Dire conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Pouvoir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- Vouloir conjugation — another everyday French verb.
- French irregular verbs — every common irregular French verb, grouped by pattern.
- French verbs — the full hub of French conjugation pages.
- Spanish verbs — the full hub of Spanish conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Spanish Verb Quiz — practise faire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise faire with the interactive tool.
- Verb Translator — practise faire with the interactive tool.