Fazer Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

fazer — to do, to make — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a irregular -er verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. 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 Portuguese says the weather “does” hot or cold. It is irregular in almost every tense, so its tables are worth learning whole — especially fiz in the pretérito perfeito and faço in the present. On this page you will find fazer in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the fazer conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the fazer pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with fazer

In the present tense

  • “Eu faço um bolo todos os dias.” — “I make a cake”
  • “Tu fazes um bolo todos os dias.” — “You make a cake”
  • “Ele faz um bolo todos os dias.” — “He makes a cake”
  • “Nós fazemos um bolo todos os dias.” — “We make a cake”
  • “Vós fazeis um bolo todos os dias.” — “You make a cake”
  • “Eles fazem um bolo todos os dias.” — “They make a cake”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu fiz um bolo ontem.” — “I made a cake”
  • “Tu fizeste um bolo ontem.” — “You made a cake”
  • “Ele fez um bolo ontem.” — “He made a cake”
  • “Nós fizemos um bolo ontem.” — “We made a cake”
  • “Vós fizestes um bolo ontem.” — “You made a cake”
  • “Eles fizeram um bolo ontem.” — “They made a cake”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu fazia um bolo antigamente.” — “I used to make a cake”
  • “Tu farás um bolo amanhã.” — “You will make a cake”
  • “Ele faria um bolo um dia.” — “He would make a cake”
  • “É importante que nós façamos um bolo.” — “It is important that we make a cake”
  • “Faz um bolo!” — “Make a cake!”

How fazer is used

The first thing to know about fazer is its core meaning: to do, to make. 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 Portuguese says the weather “does” hot or cold. It is irregular in almost every tense, so its tables are worth learning whole — especially fiz in the pretérito perfeito and faço in the present. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company fazer keeps. The present eu form is faço, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho feito, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what fazer does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need faço, never fazer. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho feito, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle feito is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Fazer in context

Eu faço um bolo todos os dias. Tu fazes um bolo todos os dias. Ele faz um bolo todos os dias. Nós fazemos um bolo todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of fazer is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — faço, fazes, faz, fazemos — while the meaning stays the same: to do, to make. Eu fiz um bolo ontem. Tu fizeste um bolo ontem. Ele fez um bolo ontem. Nós fizemos um bolo ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of fazer appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to do, to make — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu fazer um bolo.”

✓ Right: “Eu faço um bolo todos os dias.”

The infinitive fazer never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form faço.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu fazes um bolo.”

✓ Right: “Eu faço um bolo todos os dias.”

fazes is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is faço — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu faço um bolo ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu fiz um bolo ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito fiz here, not the present faço.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou feito um bolo.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho feito um bolo esta semana.”

fazer takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho feito — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on fazer across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of fazer in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) faço
    • B) fazes
    • C) faz
    • D) fazemos

  2. What is the eu form of fazer in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens feito
    • B) tem feito
    • C) tenho feito
    • D) temos feito

  3. What is the ele/ela form of fazer in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) fazias
    • B) fazíamos
    • C) fazíeis
    • D) fazia

  4. What is the nós form of fazer in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) faremos
    • B) farei
    • C) farás
    • D) fará

  5. What is the tu form of fazer in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) faria
    • B) farias
    • C) faríamos
    • D) faríeis

  6. What is the eu form of fazer in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) fizeras
    • B) fizéramos
    • C) fizera
    • D) fizéreis

  7. What is the nós form of fazer in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) faça
    • B) faças
    • C) façais
    • D) façamos

  8. What is the gerund of fazer?

    • A) fazendo
    • B) feito
    • C) fazer
    • D) faço

  9. What is the past participle of fazer?

    • A) fazendo
    • B) feito
    • C) fazer
    • D) faço

  10. What does fazer mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to do, to make
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) fazes — the correct form is fazes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho feito — the correct form is tenho feito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) fazia — the correct form is fazia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) faremos — the correct form is faremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) farias — the correct form is farias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) fizera — the correct form is fizera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) façamos — the correct form is façamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) fazendo — the correct form is fazendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) feito — the correct form is feito. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. 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 fazer mean in English?

fazer means “to do, to make”. You use it whenever you talk about to do, to make in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is fazer regular or irregular?

fazer is irregular. fazer is irregular in presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples, futuro do presente, futuro do pretérito, presente do subjuntivo, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo, futuro do subjuntivo, imperativo afirmativo, imperativo negativo, particípio, pretérito perfeito composto, pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto, futuro do presente composto, futuro do pretérito composto, presente do subjuntivo composto, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo composto, futuro do subjuntivo composto — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of fazer?

The gerund is fazendo and the past participle is feito. The perfect tenses use ter + feito.

Where can I see the full conjugation of fazer?

On the fazer conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The fazer pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for fazer, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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