faire

See also: fairé and fàire

English

Adjective

faire

1. Obsolete spelling of fair

Noun

faire (plural faires)

1. Obsolete spelling of fair

Usage notes

Sometimes used deliberately to convey an archaic feeling, e.g. "Renaissance faire"

Anagrams

• Arfie, Feria, Freia, afire, feria, rafie

---

French

Etymology

From Middle French faire, from Old French faire, feire, fere, from Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō, from Proto-Italic *fakiō, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛʁ/

• audio

  (file)

• Homophones: fer, fers

Verb

faire

1. (transitive) to do

   Qu'est-ce que tu fais ? ― What are you doing?

   Faire la vaisselle. ― To do the washing-up.

2. (transitive) to make

   Faire une erreur. ― To make a mistake.

3. (transitive) to say (of a person), to go (of an animal)

   "Je t'aime," fit-il. ― "I love you," he said.

   Le chat fait "miaou". ― The cat goes "meow".

4. (transitive) to make (cause someone or something to do something)

   Tu me fais rire. ― You make me laugh.

   La chanson me fait pleurer. ― The song makes me cry.

5. (impersonal) To be (of the weather or various situations).

   Il fait chaud/froid/noir/beau dehors.

   It is hot/cold/dark/nice outside.

   Ça fait dix ans que nous nous connaissons.

   We have known each other for ten years.

6. (reflexive) to do, to make (oneself)

   Elle se fait les ongles. ― She is doing her nails.

7. (reflexive, followed by an infinitive) to be, to get (used for a passive action)

   Se faire piquer. ― To be stung.

   Je me suis fait avoir. ― I got screwed.

8. (reflexive) to ripen (of fruit), to mature
9. (reflexive, ~ à) to become used to, to get used to
10. (slang, reflexive, transitive) to do (to have sex with)
11. (reflexive) to become, to get

Usage notes

• When it is followed by an infinitive, the past participle fait is invariable.

  Elle s'est fait comprendre, not *elle s'est faite comprendre.

Conjugation

Conjugation of faire (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	faire
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	faisant /fə.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		fait /fɛ/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fais /fɛ/	fais /fɛ/	fait /fɛ/	faisons /fə.zɔ̃/	faites /fɛt/	font /fɔ̃/
	imperfect	faisais /fə.zɛ/	faisais /fə.zɛ/	faisait /fə.zɛ/	faisions /fə.zjɔ̃/	faisiez /fə.zje/	faisaient /fə.zɛ/
	past historic2	fis /fi/	fis /fi/	fit /fi/	fîmes /fim/	fîtes /fit/	firent /fiʁ/
	future	ferai /fə.ʁe/	feras /fə.ʁa/	fera /fə.ʁa/	ferons /fə.ʁɔ̃/	ferez /fə.ʁe/	feront /fə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	ferais /fə.ʁɛ/	ferais /fə.ʁɛ/	ferait /fə.ʁɛ/	ferions /fə.ʁjɔ̃/	feriez /fə.ʁje/	feraient /fə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	fasse /fas/	fasses /fas/	fasse /fas/	fassions /fa.sjɔ̃/	fassiez /fa.sje/	fassent /fas/
	imperfect2	fisse /fis/	fisses /fis/	fît /fi/	fissions /fi.sjɔ̃/	fissiez /fi.sje/	fissent /fis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fais /fɛ/	—	faisons /fə.zɔ̃/	faites /fɛt/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is only usable with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Conjugation of se faire (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	se faire
	compound	s'être + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	se faisant /sə fə.zɑ̃/
	compound	ayant or étant + past participle
past participle		fait /fɛ/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	me fais /mə fɛ/	te fais /tə fɛ/	se fait /sə fɛ/	nous faisons /nu fə.zɔ̃/	vous faites /vu fɛt/	se font /sə fɔ̃/
	imperfect	me faisais /mə fə.zɛ/	te faisais /tə fə.zɛ/	se faisait /sə fə.zɛ/	nous faisions /nu fə.zjɔ̃/	vous faisiez /vu fə.zje/	se faisaient /sə fə.zɛ/
	past historic2	me fis /mə fi/	te fis /tə fi/	se fit /sə fi/	nous fîmes /nu fim/	vous fîtes /vu fit/	se firent /sə fiʁ/
	future	me ferai /mə fə.ʁe/	te feras /tə fə.ʁa/	se fera /sə fə.ʁa/	nous ferons /nu fə.ʁɔ̃/	vous ferez /vu fə.ʁe/	se feront /sə fə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	me ferais /mə fə.ʁɛ/	te ferais /tə fə.ʁɛ/	se ferait /sə fə.ʁɛ/	nous ferions /nu fə.ʁjɔ̃/	vous feriez /vu fə.ʁje/	se feraient /sə fə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of s'être + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of s'être + past participle
	future perfect	future of s'être + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of s'être + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	me fasse /mə fas/	te fasses /tə fas/	se fasse /sə fas/	nous fassions /nu fa.sjɔ̃/	vous fassiez /vu fa.sje/	se fassent /sə fas/
	imperfect2	me fisse /mə fis/	te fisses /tə fis/	se fît /sə fi/	nous fissions /nu fi.sjɔ̃/	vous fissiez /vu fi.sje/	se fissent /sə fis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of s'être + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of s'être + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fais-toi /fɛ.twa/	—	faisons-nous /fə.zɔ̃.nu/	faites-vous /fɛt.vu/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	simple imperative of s'être + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is only usable with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, the past historic, past anterior, imperfect subjunctive and pluperfect subjunctive tenses may be found to have been replaced with the indicative present perfect, indicative pluperfect, present subjunctive and past subjunctive tenses respectively (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• chemin faisant
• faire cas
• faire chaud
• faire chaudière ensemble
• faire chou blanc
• faire de la peine
• faire des gorges chaudes
• faire école
• faire en sorte
• faire fausse route
• faire fi
• faire fort
• faire froid
• faire genre
• faire grand cas
• faire honneur
• faire la paix
• faire le canard
• faire l'école buissonnière
• faire le con
• faire le difficile
• faire le difficile
• faire le gros dos
• faire le malin
• faire les yeux doux
• faire l'idiot
• faire peu de cas
• faire route
• faire ses besoins
• faire son chemin
• faire un tour
• ne faire ni chaud ni froid
• plus facile à dire qu'à faire
• se faire tout petit
• se faire une raison

 

Related terms

• facile
• façon
• facture
• fait

 

Further reading

• “faire” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• ferai, féria, fiera, fraie

---

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

faire

1. inflection of fair:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

---

Irish

Noun

faire f (genitive singular faire)

1. verbal noun of fair

Declension

Declension of faire

Fourth declension

Bare forms (no plural of this noun) Case Singular Nominative faire Vocative a fhaire Genitive faire Dative faire

Forms with the definite article Case Singular Nominative an fhaire Genitive na faire Dative leis an bhfaire don fhaire

Derived terms

• túr faire (“watch-tower”)

Verb

faire

1. present subjunctive analytic of fair

Mutation

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
faire	fhaire	bhfaire
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Further reading

• "faire" in Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla, An Gúm, 1977, by Niall Ó Dónaill.
• Entries containing “faire” in English-Irish Dictionary, An Gúm, 1959, by Tomás de Bhaldraithe.
• Entries containing “faire” in New English-Irish Dictionary by Foras na Gaeilge.

---

Middle English

Alternative forms

• fair

Adjective

faire

1. fair; handsome; beautiful; attractive

Descendants

• English: fair

---

Middle French

Alternative forms

• fayre
• feire
• fere

Etymology

From Old French faire, feire, fere, from Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.

Verb

faire

1. to do
2. to make
3. to choose; to elect
   • 15th century, Rustichello da Pisa (original author), Mazarine Master (scribe), The Travels of Marco Polo, page 7, lines 8-9:

     entre tant que on fera un pappe nous pourrons bien aler en Venisse

     while they are electing a Pope, we could well go to Venice

Conjugation

• Middle French conjugation varies from one text to another. Hence, the following conjugation should be considered as typical, not as exhaustive.

Conjugation of faire

infinitive	simple	faire
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle1 or gerund2	simple	faisant
	compound	present participle or gerund of avoir + past participle
past participle		fait, faict
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ie (i’)	tu	il, elle	nous	vous	ilz, elles
(simple tenses)	present	fais	fais	fait, fet	faisons	faites	font
	imperfect	faisois, faisoys	faisois, faisoys	faisoit, faisoyt	faisions	faisiez	faisoient, faisoyent
	past historic	fis	fis	fit	fismes	fistes	firent
	future	feroie, feroye	feras	fera	ferons	ferez	feront
	conditional	ferois, feroys	ferois, feroys	feroit, feroyt	ferions	feriez	feroient, feroyent
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que ie (i’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ilz, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	face	faces	face	facions	faciez	facent
	imperfect	fisse	fisses	fist	fissions	fissiez	fissent
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	fais	—	faisons	faites	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The present participle was variable in gender and number until the 17th century (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], Une esthétique nouvelle: Honoré d'Urfé, correcteur de l'Astrée, p. 179). The French Academy would eventually declare it not to be declined in 1679.
2 The gerund was held to be invariable by grammarians of the early 17th century, and was usable with preposition en, as in Modern French, although the preposition was not mandatory (Anne Sancier-Château [1995], op. cit., p. 180).

Descendants

• French: faire

---

Norman

Alternative forms

• faithe (Jersey)

Etymology

From Old French faire, from Latin faciō, facere, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”).

Verb

faire

1. (Guernsey) to make, do

Derived terms

• faire câod (“to be warm (out)”)

---

Novial

Noun

faire (plural faires)

1. fire

---

Occitan

Alternative forms

• far
• fer
• har (Gascon)
• hèser (Gascony)

Etymology

From Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.

Verb

faire

1. to do
2. to make

Conjugation

    Lengadocian (Standard Occitan)

		simple			compound
infinitive		faire			aver fasent
gerund		aver			use gerund of aver + past participle
past participle		fasent			—
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		ieu	tu	el	nosautres	vosautres	eles
	present	fach	fau	fas	fa	fasèm	fasètz
	imperfect	fan	fasiái	fasiás	fasiá	fasiam	fasiatz
	preterite	fasián	farai	faràs	farà	farem	faretz
	future	faràn	faguèri	faguères	faguèt	faguèrem	faguèretz
	conditional	faguèron	fariái	fariás	fariá	fariam	fariatz
compound tenses	present perfect	use the present tense of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect tense of aver + past participle
	past anterior	use the preterite tense of aver + past participle
	future perfect	use the future tense of aver + past participle
	conditional perfect	use the conditional tense of aver + past participle
subjunctive		que ieu	que tu	que el	que nosautres	que vosautres	que eles
	present	farián	faga	fagas	faga	fagam	fagatz
	imperfect	fagan	faguèsse	faguèsses	faguèsse	faguèssem	faguèssetz
compound tenses	past	use the present subjunctive of aver + past participle
	pluperfect	use the imperfect subjunctive of aver + past participle
imperative		—	tu	—	nosautres	vosautres	—
			faguèsson		fai	fagam

---

Old French

Alternative forms

• fere
• feire

Etymology

From Latin facere, present active infinitive of faciō.

Verb

faire

1. to do

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. This verb has irregularities in its conjugation. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of faire (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		faire			avoir fait
gerund		en faisant			Use the gerund of avoir followed by the past participle
present participle		faisant
past participle		fait
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	faz, fai	fais	fait	faimes, faisons	faites	font
	imperfect	faisoie, faiseie	faisoies, faiseies	faisoit, faiseit	faisiiens, faisiens	faisiiez, faisiez	faisoient, faiseient
	preterite	fis	feṣis	fist	feṣimes	feṣistes	firent
	future	ferai	feras	fera	ferons	feroiz, fereiz, ferez	feront
	conditional	feroie, fereie	feroies, fereies	feroit, fereit	feriiens, feriens	feriiez, feriez	feroient, fereient
compound tenses	present perfect	Use the present tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	past anterior	Use the preterite tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	future perfect	Use the future tense of avoir followed by the past participle
	conditional perfect	Use the conditional tense of avoir followed by the past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	face	faces	face	faciens, façons	faciez	facent
	imperfect	feṣisse	feṣisses	feṣist	feṣissons, feṣissiens	feṣissoiz, feṣissez, feṣissiez	feṣissent
compound tenses	past	Use the present subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
	pluperfect	Use the imperfect subjunctive of avoir followed by the past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	fa	—	faimes, faisons	faites	—

Descendants

• French: faire

---

Scottish Gaelic

Noun

faire f (genitive singular faire, plural fairean)

1. watch (the act or period of watching or guarding)

Derived terms

• facal-faire
• faireil
• taigh-faire