The ubiquitous verb faire is a very versatile word. Not only can you use faire to talk about what you “do” or “make," but you can also use it in a myriad of situations, including when talking about the weather, feelings, and past events. Let’s explore some of the most common idiomatic expressions involving faire beyond doing and making.

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Before we start focusing on faire as a verb, note that its past participle, fait (done/made), also works as a noun: le fait (the fact, the event).

Et le fait historique que l'on retient principalement ici à Bitche, c'est le siège de dix-huit cent soixante-dix

And the historical event that we mainly remember here in Bitche is the eighteen seventy siege

Captions 33-35, Lionel à la Citadelle de Bitche - Part 1

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You can read more about le fait in our lesson Getting the Facts Straight. But let's get back to faire as a verb. Early on in your French learning, you may have come across the construction il fait + noun/adjective to describe the weather. In this context, faire is equivalent to “to be." In the following video, Sophie and Edmée are enjoying a nice day out. Sophie says:

Il fait super beau aujourd'hui.

It's super nice out today.

Caption 1, Sophie et Edmée Le beau temps

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Here is another instance where faire translates as “to be”: the expression faire partie de (to be part of).

Et il faut savoir que jusqu'en mille huit cent soixante, la Villette ne faisait pas partie de la ville de Paris.

And you should know that until eighteen sixty, La Villette wasn't part of the city of Paris.

Captions 23-24, Adrien Quai de la Seine

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Faire is also used to convey how much time has passed in the construction ça fait + expression of time:

Et ça fait longtemps que tu veux devenir professeur?

And have you been wanting to become a teacher for a long time?

Caption 92, Claire et Philippe Le boulot d'enseignant

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This construction is equivalent to il y a + expression of time (it's been, ago). In Sophie et Edmée - Le beau temps, Sophie might have said:

Ça fait plus d’une semaine qu’il fait super beau. 

It's been super nice out for over a week.

Good weather is a perfect opportunity to faire un tour en vélo (go for a bike ride), as Amal suggests:

On va faire un petit tour

We're going to go for a little ride

Caption 28, Amal Vélib

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Note that you can use faire to talk about all kinds of sporting activities. 

Sophie and Edmée agree that on a sunny day, ça fait du bien (it feels good) to get out and about. Indeed, you can use the construction faire + noun/adverb to express how something feels, either in a positive or negative way:

Ouais, ça fait du bien un peu de pouvoir sortir et se promener.

Yeah, it kind of feels good to be able to go out and take a walk.

Captions 3-4, Sophie et Edmée Le beau temps

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Conversely, something might faire du mal rather than faire du bien:

Mais la petite sirène était incapable de faire du mal à quiconque.

But the little mermaid was incapable of hurting anyone.

Caption 41, Contes de fées La petite sirène - Part 2

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You can also say faire de la peine instead of faire du mal:

Ça me fait de la peine.

It pains me.

Caption 17, Sophie et Patrice Après Noël

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Speaking of feelings, you can reassure someone with the expression, Ne t’en fais pas! (Don’t worry!) That's what Nico tells Sam, who is worried about getting a job:

Ben, ne t'en fais pas. Je vais t'apprendre.

Well, don't worry about it. I'm going to teach you.

Caption 43, Extr@ Ep. 4 - Sam trouve du travail - Part 2

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In any case, Sam would be wise to act responsibly and avoid faire l’enfant (acting like a child) if he wants a job. As Margaux and Manon explain in their video on this subject, you can use faire to describe many different types of behavior and activities:

Attention, petite subtilité! Faire un enfant, c'est avoir un bébé. Mais faire l'enfant, c'est se comporter comme un enfant.

Careful, a slight subtlety! "Faire un enfant" is to have a baby. But "faire l'enfant" is to behave like a child.

Captions 17-18, Margaux et Manon Emplois du verbe faire

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In conclusion, ne vous en faites pas (don’t worry) if you’re not familiar with all the many uses of faire yet. Help is at hand! Allez faire un tour de nos vidéos sur Yabla (take a tour of our Yabla videos) and explore many more ways of using faire.

In Part 2 of "Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an," Danièle Gerkens, a journalist at Elle magazine, talks about the health benefits she experienced after cutting sugar from her diet for one year. When the year was almost up, she was expecting to break her sugar fast with mountains of whipped cream, but it was actually a single piece of dark chocolate that did her in:

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Je me disais que j'allais me rouler dans la chantilly, et cetera.

I told myself that I was going to wallow in whipped cream, et cetera.

Et puis en fait, plus ça arrivait,

And then in fact, the closer it came [to the end],

plus je me disais, mais... qu'est-ce que je vais faire?

the more I was wondering, but... what am I going to do?

Captions 102-104, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an

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Note the two different translations of je me disais here: "I told myself" and "I was wondering." The reflexive verb se dire can mean a number of things depending on context, namely "to tell/say to oneself" and "to wonder/think." In a sense, these both mean the same thing: when you wonder or think about something, you're telling yourself about it. 

When multiple people se disent, they could be thinking about something or telling themselves something, but they could also just be talking to each other: 

Christine et Alice sont de meilleures amies. Elles se disent tout. 
Christine and Alice are best friends. They tell each other everything.

Se dire can also mean "to say of oneself," or in other words, "to claim to be":

Le Charles de Gaulle,

Charles de Gaulle,

où la direction se dit d'abord victime de son image.

where the management claims first to be a victim of its image.

Caption 29, Le Journal - Hôpital ultra-moderne à Burkina Faso

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Or se dire can simply mean "to be said," which has a few different connotations. Here Danièle is (somewhat cheekily) talking about something she thinks is taboo and can't be mentioned in public. Believe it or not, she's referring to her love of milk chocolate! 

Je sais, ça se dit pas, mais j'adorais ça.

I know you're not supposed to say it, but that's what I loved.

Caption 112, Le Figaro - Elle a banni le sucre pendant un an

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In its most general sense, se dire refers to anything that "is said" in everyday language:

Par contre,

On the other hand,

"faire le beau" se dit d'un chien qui se tient sur les pattes arrière

"faire le beau" is said of a dog that stands on its hind legs

pour réclamer un sucre.

to beg for a lump of sugar.

Captions 24-25, Margaux et Manon - Emplois du verbe faire

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"Je n'ai pas des biscuits": ça se dit en français? -Non. Il faut dire: "je n'ai pas de biscuits".
Can you say je n'ai pas des biscuits in French? -No. You have to say je n'ai pas de biscuits [I don't have any cookies].

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Don't confuse ça se dit with ça te dit (or ça vous dit in the plural), which means "how does that sound" or "how would you like..." (literally, "does it speak to you"):

Ça te dit de réviser les multiples sens de l'expression "se dire"? 
How would you like to review the multiple meanings of the expression se dire? 

In a previous lesson, we explored the words compte and compter, which are used in a wide variety of expressions beyond their most basic meanings (“account” and “to count,” respectively). One of these expressions is se rendre compte, which literally means “to give an account to oneself,” but which is best translated as “to realize”: 

Et bien sûr nous allons aussi nous rendre compte que

And of course we'll also realize that

Metz est une ville riche par son patrimoine, son passé.

Metz is a rich city through its heritage, its past.

Captions 14-15, Lionel - à Metz

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“To realize” also has a French cognate, réaliser. While réaliser can be used as a synonym of se rendre compte, it more often refers to realizing something in the sense of making something a reality, such as a goal or a dream: 

C'est un rêve qui va être chaud à réaliser:

It's a dream that's going to be hard to realize:

c'est pouvoir voir Michael Jackson.

it's being able to see Michael Jackson.

Captions 26-27, Micro-Trottoirs - Un rêve récurrent?

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While this sense of “to realize” is more of a formal and often technical term, réaliser is more commonly used as a synonym of faire (to make or to do). For example, “to realize a recipe” isn’t as common a phrase in English as réaliser une recette is in French: 

Ben, pour réaliser, euh, la recette,

Well, to make, uh, this recipe,

ben on a besoin des... des homards.

well we need some... some lobsters.

Caption 29, 4 Mains pour 1 Piano - Médaillon de Homard

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Margaux and Manon even use réaliser in their definition of faire:

"Faire" veut dire construire ou fabriquer

"Faire" means to build or make

ou réaliser quelque chose de concret, de matériel.

or achieve something concrete, material.

Caption 9, Margaux et Manon - Emplois du verbe faire

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If you make the verb reflexive, it means "to become reality" or, in the case of wishes and dreams, "to come true":

Tous mes rêves se sont réalisés.
All my dreams came true.

Some other synonyms of réaliser are accomplir (to accomplish), exécuter (to execute, carry out), créer (to create), atteindre (to achieve), and achever (to finish, complete). 

Réaliser is also an important verb in film terminology, meaning “to direct.” In fact, its noun form, réalisateur, specifically means “film director”: 

Alors, c'est le réalisateur qui s'est battu pour elle.

So, it was the director who fought for her.

Caption 4, Le Journal - Marion Cotillard

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You can also use the word cinéaste, or “filmmaker,” instead of réalisateur. A “cineaste” in English is either a filmmaker or a film buff (or both!). 

Another noun form of réaliser is réalisation, which generally means “realization” or “fulfillment,” but can also mean “design” or “creation” in architectural parlance. As France contains a wealth of architectural treasures, you’ll come across this word a lot in Yabla travel videos: 

La réalisation architecturale du parc a été confiée

The park's architectural design was assigned

en mille neuf cent quatre-vingt trois.

in nineteen eighty-three.

Caption 8, De nouvelles découvertes avec Marion - Le Parc de la Villette

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Et à l'entrée, pour les amateurs d'architecture,

And at the entrance, for architecture enthusiasts,

il y a cette extraordinaire réalisation Le Corbusier.

there is this extraordinary Le Corbusier creation.

Captions 11-12, Voyage dans Paris - Le Treizième arrondissement de Paris

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We hope you realize all of your dreams and goals, whether they’re as small as making a recipe or as large as constructing a building, or as fun as learning French with Yabla!  

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