French Verbs – Present Tense of Aller and Faire

In this lesson, we cover the present tense of two further irregular verbs, aller (‘to go’) and faire (‘to do, to make’).

What is the present tense of aller (‘to go’)?

Watch the video as many times as you need, until you feel you can give the French translations as we go!

Now we can see what we’ve learned. Look at the English and see if you can provide the French for the following:

I go, I am going	Show je vais
you go, you are going (informal)	Show tu vas
he goes, he is going	Show il va
she goes, she is going	Show elle va
we go, we are going	Show nous allons
you go, you are going (formal)	Show vous allez
they go, they are going (masc. plural)	Show ils vont
they go, they are going (fem. plural)	Show elles vont

What is the present tense of faire (‘to do, to make’)?

This is also irregular and is formed as follows:

Now we can see what we’ve learned. Look at the English and see if you can provide the French for the following:

I do, I am doing, I make, I am making	Show je fais
you do, you are doing, you make, you are making (informal)	Show tu fais
he does, he is doing, he makes, he is making	Show il fait
she does, she is doing, she makes, she is making	Show elle fait
we do, we are doing, we make, we are making	Show nous faisons
you do, you are doing, you make, you are making (formal)	Show vous faites
they do, they are doing, they make, they are making (masc. plural)	Show ils font
they do, they are doing, they make, they are making (fem. plural)	Show elles font

What are some idiomatic uses of faire (‘to do, to make’)?

Faire is often used in French as part of more idiomatic expressions and everyday phrases, so it’s a really useful verb to know. Here are some examples:

faire attention	to pay attention
faire les courses	to go shopping (i.e. for necessities)
faire les magasins	to go round the shops, go shopping)
faire de la bicyclette	to ride a bicycle
faire du vélo	to go cycling
faire de la voile	to sail, go sailing
faire du camping	to go camping
faire la grève	to go on strike
faire du ski	to go skiing
faire du tricot	to knit
faire le ménage	to do housework
faire la lessive	to do the washing up
faire le lit	to make the bed
faire du sport	to play sports
faire du bricolage	to do some DIY
faire une promenade	to take a walk
faire de son mieux	to do one’s best
faire mal	to hurt