Recognising faire in Le Passé Simple

Posted by Aurélie Drouard

In: Level B2, Verbs Tenses & Conjugation, Passé simple, Verbe irrégulier

Questions: 2

Look at faire in le Passé Simple:

Je fis mes devoirs pendant qu'elles se préparaient.
I did my homework while they were getting ready.

Et toi? Que fis-tu pendant ce temps?
And you? What did you do during that time?

Bilbon fit très attention à ne pas réveiller le dragon.
Bilbo was very careful not to wake the dragon.

Lorsque nous fîmes nos bagages, nous essayâmes d'aller le plus vite possible.
When we packed our bags, we tried to go as fast as possible.

Vous fîtes la cuisine pour vingt personnes ce jour-là!
You cooked for twenty people that day!

Terrifiés, nos héros firent demi-tour et s'enfuirent en courant.
Terrified, our heroes turned around and ran away.

To conjugate faire in le Passé Simple, here is what to do:

'f-' + endings: -is, -is, -it, -îmes, -îtes, -irent

ATTENTION: It's easy to confuse je fis (faire) with je fus (être)!

See the matching lesson: Recognising être in Le Passé Simple

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meouw

Kwiziq community member

3 December 2015

1 reply

Zut alors, another past tense!! When would I the Passe simple?

Laura

Kwiziq language super star

3 December 2015

3/12/15

Bonjour Meouw, Unless you're writing a French novel, you're not likely to ever use the passé simple. You just need to be able to recognize it when you're reading.

Here's some more info:
https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-simple">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-simple">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-simple">https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/glossary/verb-tense-mood/the-french-simple-past-le-passe-simple

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