Faire in the Passé composé Tense in French

Introduction

Faire means “to do, to make”, and this page covers exactly one thing: faire in the passé composé. The passé composé is the tense French speakers reach for when they talk about completed actions in the past — what happened yesterday, last week, or a moment ago. On this page you will find the full passé composé table for faire, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the imperfect, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about faire in the passé composé. For example: “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have done the homework this evening this week.” Everything on this page uses the forms of faire exactly as they are conjugated in the passé composé, so you can trust every form you see here.

Faire in the Passé composé Tense — full table

Person Form
je ai fait
tu as fait
il/elle a fait
nous avons fait
vous avez fait
ils/elles ont fait

Gerund: faisant · Past participle: fait

The gerund is faisant, which you use after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is fait, which you use with avoir in the perfect tenses: the je form of the present perfect is ai fait, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the passé composé is only one part of how faire is used.

How the passé composé of faire is formed

The passé composé of faire is formed with the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle fait: the auxiliary forms are je ai, tu as, il/elle a, nous avons, vous avez, ils/elles ont. Put the two parts together and you get the table above — for example, the je form is ai fait and the ils form is ont fait. The participle fait never changes its spelling in this table: the verified dump gives the participle in the masculine singular form throughout, and agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence.

Because faire takes avoir as its auxiliary, the passé composé is built the same way as for most French verbs: avoir in the present, then fait. That is the first thing to check whenever you build a perfect tense with this verb: reach for avoir, and then add fait.

The same participle fait appears in the pluperfect, the future perfect and the conditional perfect — only the auxiliary changes tense. Learn the pair “avoir + fait” once and you have the key to all four perfect tenses of faire.

When to use the passé composé of faire

The passé composé is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use faire in the passé composé most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. Doing the homework this evening — finished

When the action of doing the homework this evening is finished, the passé composé is the tense to use. It presents the action as complete, with a clear end. Example: “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have done the homework this evening this week.”

2. Doing a walk in the park — finished

The same rule applies to doing a walk in the park: once the action is done, the passé composé reports it as a completed fact. Example: “Tu as fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “You have done a walk in the park this week.”

3. Doing the cooking every day — finished

A third everyday situation is doing the cooking every day, and again the passé composé is right when the action is finished. Example: “Il a fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has done the cooking every day this week.”

4. A sequence of completed actions

The passé composé is the tense of the story told step by step: first this happened, then that happened. When you tell someone what you did yesterday, you chain passé composé forms together, one per finished action. Example: “Nous avons fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “We have done the homework this evening this week.”

5. Recent past and life experience

The passé composé also covers the recent past and things that have happened at some point in your life. With time words such as hier, la semaine dernière or ce matin, the passé composé is the natural choice. Example: “Vous avez fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “You have done a walk in the park this week.”

Passé Composé vs Imperfect: how to choose

The closest tense to the passé composé is the imperfect, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the imperfect describes an ongoing or habitual past action, while the passé composé describes one finished action. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the passé composé sentences use words such as tous les jours or hier, while the imperfect sentences use autrefois or quand. Those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense.

  • Passé composé: “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have done the homework this evening this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Je faisais les devoirs ce soir autrefois.” — “I used to do the homework this evening in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Tu as fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “You have done a walk in the park this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Tu faisais une promenade au parc autrefois.” — “You used to do a walk in the park in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

  • Passé composé: “Nous avons fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “We have done the cooking every day this week.”

  • Imperfect: “Nous faisions la cuisine tous les jours autrefois.” — “We used to do the cooking every day in the past.”

  • The passé composé sentence is about the present moment or one finished action; the imperfect sentence is about the past as it used to be. That difference — now or finished versus ongoing in the past — is the whole decision.

Example sentences: faire in the passé composé

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions, the objects, the other words — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “J'ai fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “I have done a walk in the park this week.”

  2. “Tu as fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have done the cooking every day this week.”

  3. “Il a fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “He has done the homework this evening this week.”

  4. “Nous avons fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “We have done a walk in the park this week.”

  5. “Vous avez fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have done the cooking every day this week.”

  6. “Ils ont fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “They have done the homework this evening this week.”

  7. “J'ai fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “I have done a walk in the park this week.”

  8. “Tu as fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “You have done the cooking every day this week.”

Common mistakes with faire in the passé composé

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir hier.” Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir hier.” Why: For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai fait, not the present fais. The time word hier points to the past.

  • Wrong: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” (said of a daily habit) Right: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” Why: The passé composé ai fait describes one finished action. For something you do every day, use the present fais.

  • Wrong: “Je avoir les devoirs ce soir.” — leaving out the participle Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir.” Why: The passé composé needs both parts: the auxiliary avoir and the participle fait. The auxiliary alone is not a complete passé composé.

  • Wrong: “Je faisais les devoirs ce soir hier.” (said of one finished action) Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir hier.” Why: The imperfect faisais describes an ongoing past situation. For one finished action yesterday, use the passé composé ai fait.

Quiz: faire in the passé composé

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

1. Complete the sentence: “Je ______ une promenade au parc.”

  • (A) a fait
  • (B) avons fait
  • (C) ai fait
  • (D) as fait

2. Complete the sentence: “Tu ______ la cuisine tous les jours.”

  • (A) as fait
  • (B) ai fait
  • (C) a fait
  • (D) avons fait

3. Complete the sentence: “Il ______ les devoirs ce soir.”

  • (A) ai fait
  • (B) as fait
  • (C) avons fait
  • (D) a fait

4. Complete the sentence: “Nous ______ une promenade au parc.”

  • (A) a fait
  • (B) avons fait
  • (C) ai fait
  • (D) as fait

5. Complete the sentence: “Vous ______ la cuisine tous les jours.”

  • (A) as fait
  • (B) a fait
  • (C) avez fait
  • (D) ai fait

6. Complete the sentence: “Ils ______ les devoirs ce soir.”

  • (A) ai fait
  • (B) as fait
  • (C) a fait
  • (D) ont fait

7. What does faire mean in English?

  • (A) to want
  • (B) to do, to make
  • (C) to say
  • (D) to be able to, can

8. What is the past participle of faire?

  • (A) fait
  • (B) dit
  • (C) pu
  • (D) voulu

Answer key

  1. C) ai fait — The je form is ai fait.
  2. A) as fait — The tu form is as fait.
  3. D) a fait — The il/elle form is a fait.
  4. B) avons fait — The nous form is avons fait.
  5. C) avez fait — The vous form is avez fait.
  6. D) ont fait — The ils/elles form is ont fait.
  7. B) to do, to make — faire means “to do, to make”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
  8. A) fait — The past participle of faire is fait; the passé composé is formed with avoir + fait.

Frequently asked questions

How is the passé composé of faire formed?

With the auxiliary avoir in the present plus the past participle fait: je ai fait, tu as fait, il a fait, nous avons fait, vous avez fait, ils ont fait.

When do I use the passé composé of faire?

Use the passé composé for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French — for example, “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have done the homework this evening this week.” For an ongoing or habitual past action, use the imperfect instead.

What is the difference between the passé composé and the imperfect of faire?

The passé composé reports one finished action; the imperfect describes background, habit or an action in progress in the past. Compare “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” with “Je faisais les devoirs ce soir autrefois.” — the first is finished, the second is ongoing in the past.

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.

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