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FrenchConjugationImparfait

Faire (to do) · Imparfait

By TutorLily Editorial Team · Last updated

Faire in the French imparfait is: je faisais, tu faisais, il/elle/on faisait, nous faisions, vous faisiez, ils/elles faisaient. The imparfait of faire is regular, derived from the nous form 'faisons': je faisais. Note: 'faisais' has the same silent 'ai' as 'faisons' — pronounced /fəzɛ/. Common uses: habitual past actions, ongoing past actions, weather descriptions in the past ('il faisait beau').

faire conjugation in the Imparfait
To DoFaire
I used to do
je faisais
you used to do
tu faisais
he/she used to do
il/elle/on faisait
we used to do
nous faisions
you used to do
vous faisiez
they used to do
ils/elles faisaient
Examples

Faire (to do) in context

Sentences that use faire in the imparfait. Tap each to hear it.

Quand j'étais petit, je faisais beaucoup de vélo.

When I was little, I used to bike a lot.

Tu faisais semblant de dormir?

Were you pretending to sleep?

Il faisait beau hier après-midi.

The weather was nice yesterday afternoon.

Nous faisions du sport tous les jours.

We used to do sport every day.

Vous faisiez souvent des pique-niques?

Did you often have picnics?

Ils faisaient des bêtises tout le temps.

They were always doing silly things.

Tip

Working with the imparfait

The imparfait paints the background of a past scene: weather, age, habits, descriptions, ongoing actions that get interrupted. "Il faisait nuit" (it was nighttime), "j'avais cinq ans" (I was five years old), "je marchais quand tu m'as appelé" (I was walking when you called me). The imparfait is almost completely regular — the stem comes from the nous form of the present (nous parlons → je parlais), with only être being truly irregular (j'étais). The contrast with passé composé is the single most important past-tense distinction in French: imparfait = background or habitual; passé composé = completed event.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How do you conjugate faire in the imparfait?
Faire is regular in the imparfait: je faisais, tu faisais, il/elle/on faisait, nous faisions, vous faisiez, ils/elles faisaient. Stem 'fais-' from the nous form. Pronounced /fəzɛ/ for je/tu/il — the 'ai' is silent, like in 'faisons'.
When do I use 'je faisais' instead of 'j'ai fait'?
Use 'je faisais' for habitual past actions, descriptions, or background: 'chaque été, je faisais du vélo' (every summer, I used to bike). Use 'j'ai fait' for one-time completed actions: 'l'été dernier, j'ai fait du vélo' (last summer, I biked). The imparfait + passé composé together build a narrative scene: 'je faisais du vélo quand il a commencé à pleuvoir' (I was biking when it started to rain).
How do I describe past weather in French?
Past weather almost always uses the imparfait because it's a background description: 'il faisait beau' (the weather was nice), 'il faisait froid' (it was cold), 'il faisait nuit' (it was nighttime). The passé composé 'il a fait beau' would imply a completed weather event — rare and unusual unless contrasting with a change ('hier, il a fait beau toute la journée' — yesterday, it was nice the whole day, as a finite period).
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More tenses of Faire (To Do)

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Faire (to do) · Passé Composé
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Faire (to do) · Subjonctif

More verbs in imparfait

All tenses
Faire (to do)
imparfait
Être (to be)
imparfait
Avoir (to have)
imparfait
Aller (to go)
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