The use of faire as 'to give/gave'

E. P.C1Kwiziq community member

The use of faire as 'to give/gave'


Ce jour-là, tu me fis le plus beau cadeau. That day, you gave me the most beautiful gift.(HINT: Use le Passé Simple of 'faire')                                          I'm very surprised that faire is used in this here, I thought probably donner.  Is faire correct in this context?




Asked 4 years ago
CélineNative French expert teacher in KwiziqCorrect answer

Bonjour Edward,

To add to the brilliant answers:

‘faire un cadeau à qqn’ to make / to give a gift to sb

‘donner un cadeau à qqn’ = to give a gift to sb

 

 

Je fais un cadeau à ma mère = I make / give a gift to my mother

J’ai fait un cadeau à ma mère I made / gave a gift to my mother

Il me fait un cadeau = he makes / gives a gift to me

Il m’a fait un cadeau = he made / gave a gift to me

 

Je donne un cadeau à ma mère I give a gift to my mother

J’ai donné un cadeau à ma mère = I gave a gift to my mother

Il me donne un cadeau he makes / gives a gift to me

Il m’a donné un cadeau = he made / gave a gift to me

 

Here is a link to idiomatic expressions with 'faire': literality/idioms-with-faire

I hope this is helpful.

Bonne journée!

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

« Faire un cadeau (de qqc) à qqn » is an expression for ' give a present (of something) to someone ' 

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/faire%20un%20cadeau

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/faire-un-cadeau-%C3%A0-qn

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Il m'a fait un cadeau. -- He gave/made me a present.

Maarten K.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Because it is a common expression « faire un cadeau » will usually be understood in France as 'give a present' unless otherwise clarified.  If you wanted to also express 'who' made it and remove ambiguity, you could expand with something like « Il m'a fait un cadeau, et il l'a fait lui-même ». 

E. P. asked:View original

The use of faire as 'to give/gave'


Ce jour-là, tu me fis le plus beau cadeau. That day, you gave me the most beautiful gift.(HINT: Use le Passé Simple of 'faire')                                          I'm very surprised that faire is used in this here, I thought probably donner.  Is faire correct in this context?




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