Fare Conjugation in Italian
fare means “to do, to make” in English, and it is one of the first verbs Italian learners meet — it sits at number 3 in VerbFlow’s frequency list for Italian verbs. It covers both 'to do' and 'to make', and it appears in dozens of everyday expressions: making a cake, doing homework, and talking about the weather, where Italian says the weather 'does' hot or cold. It is irregular in almost every tense, so its tables are worth learning whole. This page gives you the complete conjugation of fare — 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: “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.” — “I make a cake.”
Quick facts
- Infinitive: fare
- English: to do, to make
- Verb type: Irregular -are verb
- Irregular in: present, passato-remoto, imperfect, future, conditional, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, past-participle, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative
- Gerund: facendo
- Present participle: facente
- Past participle: fatto
- Auxiliary: avere (all perfect tenses are formed with avere + the past participle)
- Ending: -are verbs; pattern are in the verified tables
Pronunciation
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for fare, 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 fare in every tense, you can recognise it in speech even before you can pronounce every form perfectly.
Three things to remember about fare
- It is irregular in 15 tense(s): present, passato-remoto, imperfect, future, conditional, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, past-participle, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. Learn those forms as a set instead of guessing them from the infinitive, because the stem changes in ways no rule predicts.
- The perfect tenses use avere: the passato prossimo is formed with avere in the present plus the past participle fatto. 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 participles are facente and fatto: keep both in mind as you read the tables, because the present participle appears as an adjective and the past 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 fare. Learn the present tense first, then the passato prossimo and the imperfect, and add the remaining tenses one at a time.
Present indicative (presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | faccio |
| tu | fai |
| lui/lei | fa |
| noi | facciamo |
| voi | fate |
| loro | fanno |
The present indicative is used for habits, facts and things happening now. For example: “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.” — “I make a cake”
Passato remoto
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | feci |
| tu | facesti |
| lui/lei | fece |
| noi | facemmo |
| voi | faceste |
| loro | fecero |
The passato remoto is used for completed actions in the distant past, mostly in written and literary Italian and in the south of Italy. For example: “Io feci un dolce ieri.” — “I made a cake”
Imperfect (imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | facevo |
| tu | facevi |
| lui/lei | faceva |
| noi | facevamo |
| voi | facevate |
| loro | facevano |
The imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past, and for background description. For example: “Io facevo un dolce una volta.” — “I used to make a cake”
Future (futuro semplice)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | farò |
| tu | farai |
| lui/lei | farà |
| noi | faremo |
| voi | farete |
| loro | faranno |
The future is used for what will happen, for predictions and for probability. For example: “Io farò un dolce domani.” — “I will make a cake”
Conditional (condizionale)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | farei |
| tu | faresti |
| lui/lei | farebbe |
| noi | faremmo |
| voi | fareste |
| loro | farebbero |
The conditional is used for what would happen, for polite requests and for hypothetical situations. For example: “Io farei un dolce un giorno.” — “I would make a cake”
Present perfect (passato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | ho fatto |
| tu | hai fatto |
| lui/lei | ha fatto |
| noi | abbiamo fatto |
| voi | avete fatto |
| loro | hanno fatto |
The passato prossimo is used for completed actions in the past, especially in spoken Italian. For example: “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake”
Pluperfect (trapassato prossimo)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avevo fatto |
| tu | avevi fatto |
| lui/lei | aveva fatto |
| noi | avevamo fatto |
| voi | avevate fatto |
| loro | avevano fatto |
The pluperfect is used for an action completed before another past action. For example: “Io avevo fatto un dolce prima della festa.” — “I had made a cake”
Future perfect (futuro anteriore)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrò fatto |
| tu | avrai fatto |
| lui/lei | avrà fatto |
| noi | avremo fatto |
| voi | avrete fatto |
| loro | avranno fatto |
The future perfect is used for what will have happened by a point in the future. For example: “Io avrò fatto un dolce per domani.” — “I will have made a cake”
Conditional perfect (condizionale passato)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | avrei fatto |
| tu | avresti fatto |
| lui/lei | avrebbe fatto |
| noi | avremmo fatto |
| voi | avreste fatto |
| loro | avrebbero fatto |
The conditional perfect is used for what would have happened in a different past. For example: “Io avrei fatto un dolce ieri.” — “I would have made a cake”
Present subjunctive (congiuntivo presente)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | faccia |
| tu | faccia |
| lui/lei | faccia |
| noi | facciamo |
| voi | facciate |
| loro | facciano |
The present subjunctive is used for wishes, doubts, emotions and opinions after che. For example: “È importante che io faccia un dolce.” — “It is important that I make a cake”
Imperfect subjunctive (congiuntivo imperfetto)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| io | facessi |
| tu | facessi |
| lui/lei | facesse |
| noi | facessimo |
| voi | faceste |
| loro | facessero |
The imperfect subjunctive is used in the past for wishes and hypotheticals after che, and in if-clauses. For example: “Era importante che io facessi un dolce.” — “It was important that I make a cake”
Imperative (affirmative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | fai |
| lui/lei | faccia |
| noi | facciamo |
| voi | fate |
| loro | facciano |
The affirmative imperative is used for direct commands and instructions. For example: “Fai un dolce!” — “Make a cake!”
Imperative (negative)
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| tu | fare |
| lui/lei | faccia |
| noi | facciamo |
| voi | facciate |
| loro | facciano |
The negative imperative is used for prohibitions and negative commands. For example: “Non fare un dolce.” — “Do not make a cake.”
Gerund
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Gerund | facendo |
The gerund is used for an action happening at the same time as another action, often with stare for the progressive. For example: “Facendo un dolce, imparo molto.” — “While making a cake, I learn a lot.”
Present participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Present participle | facente |
The present participle is used as an adjective, describing an ongoing action. For example, the participle facente is used to describe something that is happening at the same time as the main action, much like an English -ing adjective.
Past participle
| Form | Italian |
|---|---|
| Past participle | fatto |
The past participle is used with an auxiliary to form the perfect tenses, and as an adjective. For example: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “I have made a cake.”
Example sentences
Ten natural sentences with fare, covering different tenses and persons. Say each one aloud, then cover the Italian and try to produce it from the English.
- “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.” — “I make a cake”
- “Tu facesti un dolce ieri.” — “You made a cake”
- “Lui faceva un dolce una volta.” — “He used to make a cake”
- “Io farò un dolce domani.” — “I will make a cake”
- “Tu faresti un dolce un giorno.” — “You would make a cake”
- “Lui ha fatto un dolce questa settimana.” — “He has made a cake”
- “Io avevo fatto un dolce prima della festa.” — “I had made a cake”
- “Tu avrai fatto un dolce per domani.” — “You will have made a cake”
- “È importante che io faccia un dolce.” — “It is important that I make a cake”
- “Fai un dolce!” — “Make a cake!”
Common mistakes
1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form
✗ Wrong: “Io fare un dolce.”
✓ Right: “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.”
The infinitive fare never takes a subject. After io you need the conjugated present form faccio.
2. Using the wrong person’s form
✗ Wrong: “Io fai un dolce.”
✓ Right: “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.”
fai is the tu form, not the io form. Match the verb to the subject every time: io goes with faccio.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Io faccio un dolce ieri.”
✓ Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.”
Yesterday points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the passato prossimo ho fatto for a finished action yesterday.
4. Using the wrong auxiliary in the passato prossimo
✗ Wrong: “Io sono fatto un dolce.”
✓ Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.”
The passato prossimo of fare is formed with avere plus the past participle fatto: the io form is ho fatto. Check the auxiliary in the table above before you build a perfect tense.
5. Using the indicative after a subjunctive trigger
✗ Wrong: “È importante che io faccio un dolce.”
✓ Right: “È importante che io faccia un dolce.”
After è importante che Italian needs the subjunctive, so use faccia here, not the indicative faccio.
6. Using the gerund instead of the past participle in a perfect tense
✗ Wrong: “Io ho facendo un dolce.”
✓ Right: “Io ho fatto un dolce questa settimana.”
The perfect tenses need the past participle fatto, not the gerund facendo. The gerund belongs in progressive constructions, never after an auxiliary in a perfect tense.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on fare. Choose the right form, then check the answer key below.
What is the io form of fare in the Present indicative?
- A) fai
- B) faccio
- C) fa
- D) facciamo
What is the lui/lei form of fare in the Passato remoto?
- A) feci
- B) facesti
- C) fece
- D) facemmo
What is the noi form of fare in the Imperfect?
- A) facevo
- B) facevi
- C) faceva
- D) facevamo
What is the tu form of fare in the Future?
- A) farai
- B) farò
- C) farà
- D) faremo
What is the io form of fare in the Conditional?
- A) faresti
- B) farei
- C) farebbe
- D) faremmo
What is the lui/lei form of fare in the Present perfect (passato prossimo)?
- A) ho fatto
- B) hai fatto
- C) ha fatto
- D) abbiamo fatto
What is the lui/lei form of fare in the Present subjunctive?
- A) facciamo
- B) facciate
- C) facciano
- D) faccia
What is the io form of fare in the Imperfect subjunctive?
- A) facessi
- B) facesse
- C) facessimo
- D) faceste
What is the gerund of fare?
- A) fatto
- B) facendo
- C) fare
- D) faccio
What does fare mean in English?
- A) to be
- B) to have
- C) to do, to make
- D) to say
Answer key
- B) faccio — the correct form is faccio. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) fece — the correct form is fece. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) facevamo — the correct form is facevamo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) farai — the correct form is farai. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) farei — the correct form is farei. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) ha fatto — the correct form is ha fatto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) faccia — the correct form is faccia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) facessi — the correct form is facessi. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) facendo — the correct form is facendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to do, to make — the correct form is to do, to make. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does fare mean in English?
fare means “to do, to make”. It is a core everyday verb, so its present-tense forms are worth learning first.
Is fare regular or irregular?
fare is irregular: it is irregular in present, passato-remoto, imperfect, future, conditional, present-perfect, pluperfect, future-perfect, conditional-perfect, present-subjunctive, imperfect-subjunctive, gerund, past-participle, imperative-affirmative, imperative-negative. The gerund is facendo and the past participle is fatto.
What are the gerund and past participle of fare?
The gerund is facendo — use it with stare for the progressive. The past participle is fatto — use it with avere for the perfect tenses, as in ho fatto.
Which auxiliary does fare take in the passato prossimo?
fare takes avere in the passato prossimo: the io form is ho fatto. All four perfect tenses on this page are built with avere plus the past participle fatto.
How do I say “I make” in Italian?
Say “Io faccio un dolce ogni giorno.” — “I make a cake” The io form of the present is faccio, and it is the form you will use most often.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of fare — every tense of fare in one place.
- Fare in the passato prossimo tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Fare examples and quiz — more example sentences and practice questions for this verb.
- Italian passato prossimo tense guide — the full guide to the passato prossimo tense in Italian.
- Italian irregular verbs — every common irregular Italian verb, grouped by pattern.
- Andare conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Dare conjugation — another everyday Italian verb.
- Italian verbs — the full hub of Italian conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Conjugator — practise fare with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Chart Printer — practise fare with the interactive tool.
- Tense Finder — practise fare with the interactive tool.