How to conjugate faire in French
Faire is a French verb that means “to do” or “to make.” Like many verbs in French, faire is irregular, which means its conjugations don’t follow a standard pattern. However, with a bit of practice and some helpful tips, you can master the art of conjugating faire in no time.
Here are the conjugations for faire in the present tense:
Je – je fais (I do/make) Tu – tu fais (You do/make – informal) Il/Elle/On – fait (He/She/One does/makes) Nous – nous faisons (We do/make) Vous – vous faites (You do/make – formal or plural) Ils/Elles – font (They do/make)
Next, let’s take a look at the conjugations for faire in the past tense, also known as the passé composé. To form the passé composé, you will need to use the auxiliary verb “avoir” in the present tense along with the past participle of faire, which is “fait.” Here are the conjugations for faire in the passé composé:
Je – j’ai fait (I did/made) Tu – tu as fait (You did/made – informal) Il/Elle/On – a fait (He/She/One did/made) Nous – nous avons fait (We did/made) Vous – vous avez fait (You did/made – formal or plural) Ils/Elles – ont fait (They did/made)
It’s also important to note that the conjugations for faire change in the negative form. To make a sentence negative in French, simply add “ne” before the auxiliary verb and “pas” after. Here are the negative conjugations for faire in the present tense:
Je – je ne fais pas (I don’t do/make) Tu – tu ne fais pas (You don’t do/make – informal) Il/Elle/On – ne fait pas (He/She/One doesn’t do/make) Nous – nous ne faisons pas (We don’t do/make) Vous – vous ne faites pas (You don’t do/make – formal or plural) Ils/Elles – ne font pas (They don’t do/make)
In the past tense, the negative form is formed by adding “ne” before the auxiliary verb and “pas” after the past participle. Here are the negative conjugations for faire in the passé composé:
Je – je n’ai pas fait (I didn’t do/make) Tu – tu n’as pas fait (You didn’t do/make – informal) Il/Elle/On – n’a pas fait (He/She/One didn’t do/make) Nous – nous n’avons pas fait (We didn’t do/make) Vous – vous n’avez pas fait (You didn’t do/make – formal or plural) Ils/Elles – n’ont pas fait (They didn’t do/make)
In conclusion, conjugating faire in French may seem challenging at first, but with practice and a good understanding of its stem, endings, and auxiliary verbs, you’ll be able to use this important verb with confidence in no time.
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