How to Teach French Verbs for “To Make” – Faire, Rendre, Donner & More – A French Teacher’s Guide
English makes things especially confusing when it comes to the verb “to make.” We use the same verb in expressions like make dinner, make someone laugh, make someone sad, make someone work, and make a house.
French doesn’t work that way.
Students need to learn that faire is only one of several French verbs that can correspond to “make,” depending on what they are actually trying to say.
In this lesson, I introduce several of the most useful verbs:
- faire — to make, in a general sense
- rendre — to make someone or something become or feel a certain way
- donner — to make someone feel a physical sensation such as hunger or thirst
- fabriquer — to manufacture or produce
- obliger — to make someone do something
- construire — to build
I put particular emphasis on faire vs. rendre, because this is where students often need the most explanation.
French Verbs That Mean “Make” Reference Guide – Foldable Handout Book
Looking for more resources to help you teach French verbs for “to make”? Scroll down to the section at the end of this post to see my ready-to-use resources for this topic.
Start with FAIRE as the general verb for “to make”
I begin with faire because it is the most general and familiar way to translate “to make.”
Students already know that faire can mean many different things, so I explain that it can be used when we are simply talking about making or doing something in a general sense.
For example:
Je fais le dîner.
I’m making dinner.
I don’t want students to think that faire means “make” in every situation, though. Once they understand this basic use, I start showing them the situations where French uses a different verb.
Teach FAIRE + infinitive for making someone do something
Another very important use of faire is when we say that someone makes another person do something.
I introduce the pattern:
faire + infinitive
For example:
Il me fait faire la vaisselle.
He’s making me do the dishes.
Here, faire is followed by another verb in the infinitive.
This is different from simply making an object:
Je fais le dîner.
In je fais le dîner, faire means to make something.
In il me fait faire la vaisselle, faire means to cause someone to do something.
I point out that the person being made to do the action is placed before the infinitive:
Il me fait faire la vaisselle.
This construction is often called the causative faire, but I don’t necessarily make the terminology the focus of the lesson. I want students to recognize and use the pattern.
Introduce RENDRE as “make” + adjective
This is where I spend more time because English and French handle these expressions differently.
I explain that rendre is used when “make” is followed by an adjective describing the resulting state of a person or thing.
For example:
Ça me rend triste.
That makes me sad.
We can use rendre to say that something makes someone sad, happy, nervous, sick, proud, drowsy, and so on.
For example:
La nouvelle de notre déménagement a rendu nos amis tristes.
The news of our move made our friends sad.
And:
Manger du poisson avarié peut vous rendre malade.
Eating spoiled fish can make you sick.
I want students to notice the difference between the English sentence and the French structure. English simply uses make. French asks students to look at what comes after “make.”
If what follows is an adjective, rendre is often the verb they need.
Emphasize that RENDRE is followed by an adjective
I give students several examples so they can see the pattern:
rendre quelqu’un triste
to make someone sad
rendre quelqu’un malade
to make someone sick
rendre quelqu’un fier / fière
to make someone proud
rendre quelqu’un somnolent(e)
to make someone drowsy
For example:
Cela rend les parents fiers de voir leurs enfants réussir.
It makes parents proud to see their children succeed.
And:
Certains médicaments rendent Jeanne somnolente.
Some medications make Jeanne drowsy.
I also point out that the person following rendre is a direct object, so there is no à before the person:
Cela rend les parents fiers.
Cela les rend fiers.
This becomes particularly useful when students start replacing nouns with object pronouns.
Compare FAIRE + noun and RENDRE + adjective
This is one of the most important comparisons in the lesson.
I explain that some expressions involving “make” use faire + noun, while others use rendre + adjective.
For example:
faire peur à quelqu’un
to scare someone
rendre quelqu’un triste
to make someone sad
In the first expression, peur is a noun.
In the second, triste is an adjective.
This difference helps students understand why they cannot simply choose faire every time they see the English word “make.”
Teach FAIRE + noun with expressions like FAIRE PEUR and FAIRE PLAISIR
I introduce some common expressions where faire is followed by a noun.
For example:
Le bruit fort a fait peur aux chevaux.
The loud noise scared the horses.
And:
Ces fleurs vont faire plaisir à Christiane.
These flowers are going to make Christiane happy.
Here, peur and plaisir are nouns.
I point out an important difference from rendre: when a person is named after these expressions, that person is introduced with à.
For example:
faire peur à quelqu’un
faire plaisir à quelqu’un
The pronoun is therefore an indirect object:
Le bruit fort leur a fait peur.
Ces fleurs vont lui faire plaisir.
This gives students another useful contrast:
faire + noun + à quelqu’un
versus
rendre + adjective + quelqu’un
Compare FAIRE + infinitive with RENDRE + adjective
I like to put these ideas side by side for students.
With faire + infinitive, we are making someone do something:
Son ami raconte toujours des blagues qui font rire Patrick.
His friend is always telling jokes that make Patrick laugh.
Tu fais travailler ton fils ?
Are you making your son work?
With rendre + adjective, we are making someone become or feel a certain way:
La nouvelle de notre déménagement a rendu nos amis tristes.
The news of our move made our friends sad.
This distinction is much more useful to students than simply memorizing that faire means “make” and rendre also means “make.”
Introduce DONNER for physical sensations
Once students understand faire and rendre, I introduce another important verb: donner.
I explain that donner can be used with physical sensations such as hunger, thirst, heat, and cold.
For example:
Tu me donnes faim.
You’re making me hungry.
I want students to recognize these as expressions that don’t translate literally from English.
In English, we say:
You’re making me hungry.
But French uses:
Tu me donnes faim.
So this is another situation where translating the English verb make directly into faire doesn’t work.
Introduce FABRIQUER when “make” means produce or manufacture
Next, I introduce fabriquer.
I explain that fabriquer is used when “make” means produce or manufacture something.
For example:
Les Chinois fabriquent beaucoup de produits électroniques.
The Chinese make a lot of electronic products.
This gives students another useful distinction:
faire = make in a general sense
fabriquer = manufacture or produce
I don’t want students to think that fabriquer replaces faire every time something is physically produced. Instead, I present it as the more specific verb when the idea is production or manufacturing.
Introduce OBLIGER when “make” means force someone to do something
Another important use of English “make” is when we mean force or require someone to do something.
Here I introduce obliger.
For example:
J’oblige mes enfants à lire tous les jours.
I make my children read every day.
I point out that obliger is followed by à + infinitive:
obliger quelqu’un à faire quelque chose
This is different from faire + infinitive.
Compare:
Je fais lire mes enfants.
and:
J’oblige mes enfants à lire.
Both can involve making children read, but the structures are different.
For this lesson, I want students to understand that obliger specifically expresses the idea of making someone do something because they are required or forced to do it.
Introduce CONSTRUIRE when “make” means build
Finally, I introduce construire.
I explain that when “make” means build, French uses construire.
For example:
Les enfants construisent un château de sable.
The children are making a sandcastle.
Again, this gives students another example of why they need to think about the meaning of “make” rather than automatically translating it as faire.
Have students identify what “make” means before choosing the verb
This becomes the main strategy I use with students.
Instead of asking:
What is the French word for “make”?
I have them ask:
What does “make” mean in this sentence?
Is it:
- making something in a general sense?
- making someone do something?
- making someone feel a certain way?
- making someone hungry or thirsty?
- manufacturing something?
- forcing someone to do something?
- building something?
Once students identify the meaning, the French verb becomes much easier to choose.
French Verbs That Mean MAKE – French Grammar Activity
Give students sentence pairs to practice the differences
I like to have students compare sentences that all contain the English word make but require different French verbs.
For example:
Je fais le dîner.
I’m making dinner.
Ça me rend triste.
That makes me sad.
Tu me donnes faim.
You’re making me hungry.
Les enfants construisent un château de sable.
The children are making a sandcastle.
J’oblige mes enfants à lire tous les jours.
I make my children read every day.
Il me fait faire la vaisselle.
He’s making me do the dishes.
The English translation looks similar in each case, but the French structure changes depending on the meaning.
That’s exactly the distinction I want students to notice.
Come back to FAIRE vs. RENDRE before students finish the lesson
Because faire and rendre are particularly easy to confuse, I make sure students get another opportunity to compare them.
I remind them:
FAIRE + noun
faire peur à quelqu’un
faire plaisir à quelqu’un
FAIRE + infinitive
faire rire quelqu’un
faire travailler quelqu’un
RENDRE + adjective
rendre quelqu’un triste
rendre quelqu’un malade
rendre quelqu’un fier / fière
rendre quelqu’un somnolent(e)
The part of speech that follows the verb gives students an important clue.
Have students practice with pronouns
Once students understand the basic structures, I have them replace the people in the sentences with pronouns.
With faire + noun expression, the person is an indirect object:
Ces fleurs vont faire plaisir à Christiane.
becomes:
Ces fleurs vont lui faire plaisir.
With faire + infinitive, the person is a direct object:
Son ami raconte toujours des blagues qui font rire Patrick.
becomes:
Son ami raconte toujours des blagues qui le font rire.
With rendre + adjective, the person is also a direct object:
La nouvelle a rendu nos amis tristes.
becomes:
La nouvelle les a rendus tristes.
This gives students a chance to review object pronouns while also reinforcing the differences between the three structures.
Don’t try to teach all of the verbs as simple translations
The biggest thing I want students to take away from this lesson is that “make” does not have one French translation.
Instead of memorizing a long list of isolated translations, I have them connect each verb to the meaning it expresses:
faire — make in a general sense; make someone do something
rendre — make someone or something become or feel a certain way
donner — make someone experience a physical sensation such as hunger or thirst
fabriquer — manufacture or produce
obliger — make or force someone to do something
construire — build
Once students start thinking about the meaning first, they have a much better chance of choosing the right French verb.
Practice French Verbs for “To Make”!
If you’re looking for a comprehensive way to teach the different French verbs that can translate to “to make,” I’ve created resources that bring these distinctions together, with examples and practice focusing especially on faire vs. rendre.
French Verbs That Mean “Make” Reference Guide – Foldable Handout Book
French Verbs That Mean MAKE – French Grammar Activity
French Reading Comprehension Quiz Faire Rendre Donner Obliger Fabriquer
French Faire Rendre Donner Obliger Fabriquer Construire – Google Forms Quiz
