Faire Conjugation in French
faire means “to do, to make” in English, and it is one of the first verbs French learners meet — it sits at number 3 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for French verbs. You use it whenever you talk about doing the homework this evening, and because it comes up in everyday conversation so often, learning its forms properly pays off from the very first week. This page gives you the complete conjugation of faire — every tense, every person, the gerund and the past participle — with notes, examples, common mistakes and a quiz. Here is the verb in a natural sentence: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: faire
- English: to do, to make
- Verb type: Irregular
- Irregular in: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: faisant
- Past participle: fait
- Auxiliary: avoir (all perfect tenses are formed with avoir + the past participle)
- Ending: -re verbs; pattern faire in the verified tables
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. Learn the spelling of the forms first, and listen to a native speaker for the sounds rather than trusting an invented transcription. The forms below are the ones that matter: once you can read faire in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about faire
- It is irregular in 5 tense(s): present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. Learn those forms as a set rather than guessing them from the infinitive, because the regular pattern will not produce them.
- The perfect tenses use avoir: the present perfect is formed with avoir in the present plus the past participle fait. The tables on this page give the participle in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table.
- The gerund is faisant and the participle is fait: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the gerund appears in progressive constructions and the participle appears in every perfect tense. If you know those two forms and the present tense, you already know the skeleton of the whole conjugation.
Full conjugation tables
Every form below comes from VerbFlow’s verified conjugation tables for faire. Learn the present tense first, then the passé composé and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | fais |
| tu | fais |
| il/elle | fait |
| nous | faisons |
| vous | faites |
| ils/elles | font |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. With faire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Je fais une promenade au parc tous les jours.” — “I do a walk in the park every day.”
Passé simple
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | fis |
| tu | fis |
| il/elle | fit |
| nous | fîmes |
| vous | fîtes |
| ils/elles | firent |
The passé simple is used for completed actions in the past, mostly in written and literary French. With faire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Tu fis une promenade au parc hier.” — “You did a walk in the park yesterday.”
Imperfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | faisais |
| tu | faisais |
| il/elle | faisait |
| nous | faisions |
| vous | faisiez |
| ils/elles | faisaient |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Il faisait une promenade au parc autrefois.” — “He used to do a walk in the park in the past.”
Future
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ferai |
| tu | feras |
| il/elle | fera |
| nous | ferons |
| vous | ferez |
| ils/elles | feront |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Je ferai une promenade au parc demain.” — “I will do a walk in the park tomorrow.”
Conditional
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ferais |
| tu | ferais |
| il/elle | ferait |
| nous | ferions |
| vous | feriez |
| ils/elles | feraient |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Tu ferais une promenade au parc un jour.” — “You would do a walk in the park one day.”
Present perfect (passé composé)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | ai fait |
| tu | as fait |
| il/elle | a fait |
| nous | avons fait |
| vous | avez fait |
| ils/elles | ont fait |
The present perfect (passé composé) is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken French. For example: “Il a fait une promenade au parc cette semaine.” — “He has done a walk in the park this week.”
Pluperfect (plus-que-parfait)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | avais fait |
| tu | avais fait |
| il/elle | avait fait |
| nous | avions fait |
| vous | aviez fait |
| ils/elles | avaient fait |
The pluperfect (plus-que-parfait) is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “J'avais fait une promenade au parc avant la fête.” — “I had done a walk in the park before the party.”
Future perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurai fait |
| tu | auras fait |
| il/elle | aura fait |
| nous | aurons fait |
| vous | aurez fait |
| ils/elles | auront fait |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Tu auras fait une promenade au parc pour demain.” — “You will have done a walk in the park by tomorrow.”
Conditional perfect
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | aurais fait |
| tu | aurais fait |
| il/elle | aurait fait |
| nous | aurions fait |
| vous | auriez fait |
| ils/elles | auraient fait |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Il aurait fait une promenade au parc hier.” — “He would have done a walk in the park yesterday.”
Present subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | fasse |
| tu | fasses |
| il/elle | fasse |
| nous | fassions |
| vous | fassiez |
| ils/elles | fassent |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after que. With faire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Il est important que je fasse une promenade au parc.” — “It is important that I do a walk in the park.”
Imperfect subjunctive
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | fisse |
| tu | fisses |
| il/elle | fît |
| nous | fissions |
| vous | fissiez |
| ils/elles | fissent |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in formal written French for past wishes and hypotheticals after que. For example: “Il est important que tu fisses une promenade au parc.” — “It is important that you do a walk in the park.”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | fais |
| nous | faisons |
| vous | faites |
The imperative (affirmative) is used for direct commands and instructions. With faire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Fais une promenade au parc !” — “Do a walk in the park!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | fais |
| nous | faisons |
| vous | faites |
The imperative (negative) is used for prohibitions and negative commands. With faire this tense is irregular, so the forms do not follow the regular pattern — learn them as a set rather than guessing from the infinitive. For example: “Ne fais pas une promenade au parc.” — “Do not do a walk in the park.”
Gerund
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Gerund | en faisant |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, usually after en. For example: “En faisant les devoirs ce soir, je passe un bon moment.” — “While doing the homework this evening, I have a good time.”
Past participle
| Form | French |
|---|---|
| Past participle | fait |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “J'ai fait les devoirs ce soir cette semaine.” — “I have done the homework this evening this week.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with faire, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the French and try to produce it from the English.
- “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.”
- “Tu fis une promenade au parc hier.” — “You did a walk in the park yesterday.”
- “Il faisait la cuisine tous les jours autrefois.” — “He used to do the cooking every day in the past.”
- “Je ferai les devoirs ce soir demain.” — “I will do the homework this evening tomorrow.”
- “Tu ferais une promenade au parc un jour.” — “You would do a walk in the park one day.”
- “Il a fait la cuisine tous les jours cette semaine.” — “He has done the cooking every day this week.”
- “J'avais fait les devoirs ce soir avant la fête.” — “I had done the homework this evening before the party.”
- “Tu auras fait une promenade au parc pour demain.” — “You will have done a walk in the park by tomorrow.”
- “Il est important que il fasse la cuisine tous les jours.” — “It is important that he do the cooking every day.”
- “Fais les devoirs ce soir !” — “Do the homework this evening!”
Common mistakes
1. 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 present form fais.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Je font les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir.”
font is the ils/elles form, not the je form. Match the verb to the subject every time: je goes with fais.
3. Using the passé simple for a present habit
✗ Wrong: “Je fis les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.”
✓ Right: “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.”
The passé simple fis describes one finished past action. For something that happens every day, use the present fais.
4. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “Il est important que je fais les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Il est important que je fasse les devoirs ce soir.”
After il est important que French needs the subjunctive, so use fasse here, not the indicative fais.
5. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passé composé
✗ Wrong: “Je suis fait les devoirs ce soir.”
✓ Right: “Je ai fait les devoirs ce soir.”
The passé composé of faire is formed with avoir plus the past participle fait: the je form is ai fait. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
6. Dropping a written accent
✗ Wrong: “fais” written without its accent
✓ Right: “fais”
Accents are part of the spelling in French. Write the form exactly as it appears in the table, accent included, or it looks like a different word.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on faire. Choose the right form, 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 il/elle form of faire in the Passé simple?
- A) fîtes
- B) fit
- C) fis
- D) fîmes
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 perfect (passé composé)?
- A) ai fait
- B) as fait
- C) avons fait
- D) a fait
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 Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) fît
- B) fissions
- C) fisse
- D) fisses
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) fit — the il/elle form of faire in the Passé simple is fit. 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.
- 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.
- C) fasse — the il/elle form of faire in the Present subjunctive is fasse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) fisse — the je form of faire in the Imperfect subjunctive is fisse. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) en faisant — the gerund of faire is en faisant; it is used after en for actions happening at the same time as another action. 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, and it is irregular in these tenses: present, passe-simple, present-subjunctive, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is faisant and the past participle is fait.
What are the gerund and past participle of faire?
The gerund is faisant — use it after en for an action happening at the same time as another action. The past participle is fait — use it with avoir for the perfect tenses, as in ai fait.
Which auxiliary does faire take in the passé composé?
faire takes avoir in the passé composé: the je form is ai fait. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avoir plus the past participle fait.
How do I say “I do” in French?
Say “Je fais les devoirs ce soir tous les jours.” — “I do the homework this evening every day.” The je form of the present is fais, and it is the form you will use most often.
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 Conjugator — practise faire with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise faire with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise faire with the interactive tool.