faire

Senses

1. 1.

   to do

   to perform an action or activity

2. 2.

   to make

   to create, produce, or construct something

3. 3.

   to cause

   to bring about a result or state

4. 4.

   to seem / to be

   impersonal usage for weather, time, or appearance (il fait beau)

Examples

• "Qu'est-ce que tu fais ce soir?"

  What are you doing this evening?

• "Elle a fait un gâteau pour l'anniversaire."

  She made a cake for the birthday.

• "Il fait très chaud aujourd'hui."

  It's very hot today.

Usage

Faire is the most frequent verb in French and covers a wide semantic range. In informal speech, it often acts as a filler or emphatic particle. Common collocations include faire attention (pay attention), faire peur (frighten), faire plaisir (please). Beware: faire + infinitive creates a causative construction (il fait construire une maison = he has a house built).