In modern French, there are verbs, without which the everyday speech of native speakers is indispensable. The many-valued faire also belongs to them, the conjugation of which should be one of the first to be remembered.
Meaning of the verb
Beginners to learning French usually use only 2-3 meanings of faire: "to do" and "to do something".
- Ce soir je suis occupé, je dois faire mes devoirs. – I am busy in the evening, I have to do my homework.
- Elle fait de la musique toute sa vie. – She has been making music all her life.
Besides these meanings, faire has such meanings as “create, create”, “order”, “force”, “act”, “harmonize” (for example, about clothes), as well as many colloquial options. Faire also occurs in many fixed expressions and in impersonal expressions describing weather phenomena, daily activities and playing musical instruments.
Indicative
Let's consider the main tenses of the verb faire. The present conjugation is based on fai- in all persons and numbers except the ils/elles font form. Also, the verb has a specialform – vous faites.
In Imparfait, the endings are added to the stem fais-, while the vowels in the endings alternate: -ai- appears before unpronounceable letters, and the vowel -i- precedes the pronounced endings –ons, -ez, which is typical for all verbs in this time.
In Futur, the consonant -r- (fer-) appears in the stem, all endings are pronounced.
Passé Composé of this verb is built using the auxiliary avoir and the participle fait. The same participle is found in all compound tenses and in the conditional mood of the past tense.
The conjugation of the verb faire in Passé Simple will be needed when reading fiction, it is not used in oral speech. In this case, the forms will have to be memorized, because nothing remains of the initial form, except for the first letter. It should be remembered that forms 1 and 2 of the plural person have a “cap” - accent circonflexe (î).
Conditional and subjunctive faire
The conjugation of the verb in these moods will be needed when it comes to actions caused by any factors, about possible or desired actions. For example:
- Si tu savais cette règle, tu ne ferais pas tant de fautes. – If you knew the rule, you would not make so many mistakes (Conditionnel présent in the main sentence)
- Si Pauline était venue à six heures, tu aurais fait tes devoirs avec elle. – If Polina came at 6, would you do your homework with her (Conditionnel passé in the main sentence)
- Je veux qu'elle fassedes devoirs avec moi. – I want her to do homework with me (Subjonctif présent in a subordinate clause).
Let's consider how each of these tenses is formed.
Present Conditionnel forms are used to denote actions related to the present or future time. In group 3 verbs, the stem is the same as the stem in Futur simple (fer-), and the endings are the same as in Imparfait (tu ferais). The past tense requires the auxiliary verb avoir in the Conditionnel present form and the conjugated verb in the form Participle passé (tu aurais fait).
The use of the subjunctive mood in speech allows you to express your attitude, evaluate what is happening, report on the desired or likely actions. Subjonctif usually occurs in subordinate clauses and depends on the verb in the main clause. Of the 4 forms, Present du subjonctif is considered the most used, the rest are much less common in oral speech. The conjugation of the French verb faire in this mood is not according to the rules, it should be remembered: fass- acts as the basis. A verb in the subjunctive is almost always preceded by a que (qu'elle fasse).
Imperative
As in Russian, this mood is used to express requests, wishes, prohibitions or commands. It has 3 forms, coinciding with the corresponding forms of Présent de l'Indicatif (for faire, the conjugation will be as follows: fais, faisons, faites), while the sentences do not use personalpronouns. For example:
- Fais la vasselle, s'il te plait. – Wash the dishes, please.
- Faisons du tennis. – Let's play tennis.
- Faites de la bicyclette, les enfants. – Ride your bike, kids.
For negative requests or prohibitions, it is enough to put negative particles ne… pas (or ne… jamais, ne… plus, ne… rien, etc.) before and after the verb, respectively.
Ne me fais pas peur. – Don't scare me
By spending a little time studying this verb, you can significantly enrich your speech with new useful phrases.
