Fer covers much of English “do” and “make,” but it also anchors Catalan expressions for weather, elapsed time, causation, and everyday activities. Its meanings are broad; its present-tense forms are compact and irregular. The best strategy is to learn the paradigm and the frequent noun combinations together.
The present paradigm
| Person | Present | Example |
|---|---|---|
| jo | faig | faig el sopar |
| tu | fas | fas el sopar |
| ell / ella / vostè | fa | fa el sopar |
| nosaltres | fem | fem el sopar |
| vosaltres | feu | feu el sopar |
| ells / elles / vostès | fan | fan el sopar |
The first-person faig has a special ending not shared by the other present forms. Fa has no written accent; it cannot be confused with another common word in standard spelling. Fem and feu use an e stem, while faig, fas, fa, and fan use fa-. This is a genuine irregular paradigm, not a spelling change you can apply to other verbs.
Faig el sopar mentre tu pares taula.
I’ll make dinner while you set the table.
Què fas els caps de setmana?
What do you do at weekends?
La Sílvia fa pa a casa cada diumenge.
Sílvia makes bread at home every Sunday.
Fem una pausa o voleu continuar?
Shall we take a break, or do you want to continue?
Els veïns fan massa soroll a la nit.
The neighbors make too much noise at night.
Catalan normally omits the subject pronoun because faig, fas, fem, and the other forms identify person and number. The same present can report a habit, a general fact, or an action understood as current from context.
Do, make—and Catalan collocations
English divides many activities between “do,” “make,” “take,” and other verbs. Catalan draws the boundaries differently. Frequent combinations with fer include:
| Expression | Natural English equivalent |
|---|---|
| fer feina | to work / get work done |
| fer esport | to exercise / do sport |
| fer una foto | to take a photo |
| fer una pregunta | to ask a question |
| fer una passejada | to take a walk |
| fer un cafè | to have a coffee |
Et fa res si obro la finestra?
Do you mind if I open the window?
Avui no puc fer un cafè; vaig de bòlit.
I can’t meet for coffee today; I’m rushed off my feet.
Ens fas una foto davant de l'entrada?
Will you take a photo of us in front of the entrance?
These combinations are lexical. Knowing that fer can mean “make” will not predict fer una pregunta or fer un cafè. Conversely, English “make a decision” is normally prendre una decisió, not fer una decisió. Learn each frequent noun with its verb.
Weather and temperature: impersonal fa
Weather expressions use third-person singular fa without a referential subject. The following noun or adjective does not control agreement.
Avui fa fred, però demà farà més bon temps.
It’s cold today, but the weather will be better tomorrow.
A l'agost fa molta calor al migdia.
In August it’s very hot at midday.
Fa vent; agafa una jaqueta abans de sortir.
It’s windy; grab a jacket before going out.
A fora fa divuit graus.
It’s eighteen degrees outside.
English inserts dummy “it,” but Catalan has no subject pronoun here. Contrast a thing’s temperature with estar: Fa fred describes the weather, while El cafè està fred describes the coffee’s state. The construction’s impersonal viewpoint determines the verb.
Elapsed time: fa... que and des de fa
Present fa also measures a span backward from now. Two core patterns are fa + duration + que + present and present + des de fa + duration:
Fa tres anys que vivim en aquest barri.
We’ve lived in this neighborhood for three years.
Treballo des de fa sis mesos en una cooperativa.
I’ve been working at a cooperative for six months.
English commonly uses a present perfect or present perfect progressive for a situation that began in the past and continues now. Catalan uses a present in the continuing clause (vivim, treballo) because the state still holds at the present viewpoint. Fa tres anys measures its duration; it does not turn vivim into a past event.
If the endpoint is not now, the tense changes with the discourse viewpoint. That broader system belongs with past tenses; at A1, master the present-time pattern rather than translating English tense form by form.
Fer + infinitive: causing an action
Present fer followed by an infinitive can mean that the subject causes, prompts, or arranges the second action. The person affected is often represented by a weak pronoun before fer.
Aquesta cançó em fa pensar en els estius de quan era petit.
This song makes me think of the summers when I was little.
La professora ens fa llegir en veu alta cada setmana.
The teacher makes us read aloud every week.
Quan està nerviosa, la faig riure explicant-li històries absurdes.
When she’s nervous, I make her laugh by telling her absurd stories.
This construction behaves as one complex predicate, which is why clitic case and ordering can become more intricate when the infinitive itself has an object. The dedicated causative fer page covers those advanced patterns.
Weak pronoun placement
With a single finite present form, object and partitive pronouns precede fer:
No ho faig per diners; ho faig perquè m'agrada.
I don’t do it for money; I do it because I enjoy it.
De pastissos, en fem dos cada matí.
As for cakes, we make two every morning.
Do not place a finite weak pronoun after fer. Postverbal attachment belongs to forms such as the infinitive (fer-ho) and affirmative imperative (fes-ho), not present indicative faig/fem.
Simple present, progressive, and mood
For habits and general activities, use the simple present: Faig esport tres cops per setmana. The progressive focuses on an event in progress at a reference moment:
Ara estic fent el sopar; et truco després.
I’m making dinner now; I’ll call you later.
English uses progressive forms more readily, so do not transfer every “am doing” mechanically. Catalan speakers choose the progressive when the internal unfolding matters, not merely to locate an event near the present.
Indicative fa asserts the situation. A larger non-assertive environment can require subjunctive faci: Sé que fa fred versus No crec que faci fred. The conjunction que appears in both; the speaker’s commitment to the proposition drives the mood.
Regional forms
The main paradigm is the general standard. Faç for faig and feim, feis for fem, feu are normative restricted forms (regional: Balearic); faç also occurs (regional: Alguerese). They are not random colloquialisms, but consistent parts of those regional systems. A learner using faig, fem, and feu has a form accepted throughout the domain.
Mini-dialogue
—Què fas dissabte al matí? —Faig feina fins a la una.
—What are you doing Saturday morning? —I’m working until one.
—I a la tarda fem un cafè? —Perfecte, et truco quan plegui.
—And shall we have a coffee in the afternoon? —Perfect, I’ll call you when I finish work.
The simple present fas/faig refers to a scheduled future because dissabte supplies the time. Fem un cafè? functions as a proposal. Present morphology interacts with discourse time and sentence type; it does more than translate English simple present.
Common Mistakes
1. Using estar for weather cold.
❌ Avui està molt fred.
Incorrect for the weather — this would need an explicit cold thing as subject.
✅ Avui fa molt fred.
It’s very cold today.
2. Translating an ongoing duration with a past or a bare prepositional phrase.
❌ Vivim aquí per tres anys.
Incorrect for a period that began three years ago and continues now.
✅ Fa tres anys que vivim aquí.
We’ve lived here for three years.
3. Copying an English collocation.
❌ Hem de fer una decisió avui.
Incorrect collocation — Catalan takes a decision with prendre.
✅ Hem de prendre una decisió avui.
We have to make a decision today.
4. Putting a finite weak pronoun after the verb.
❌ Faig-ho demà al matí.
Incorrect — with present indicative, ho goes before the verb.
✅ Ho faig demà al matí.
I’ll do it tomorrow morning.
5. Using the progressive for a routine.
❌ Estic fent esport cada diumenge.
Incorrect for a regular habit unless a temporary contrast is intended.
✅ Faig esport cada diumenge.
I exercise every Sunday.
Key Takeaways
- Memorize faig, fas, fa, fem, feu, fan.
- Learn fer in collocations rather than forcing the English “do/make” divide onto Catalan.
- Use impersonal fa for weather and fa... que + present for a situation continuing until now.
- Put weak pronouns before finite fer: ho faig, en fem dos, em fa riure.
Now practice Catalan
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- Common Present-Stem IrregularitiesA2 — Recognize the recurring stem patterns behind high-frequency irregular present-tense verbs such as poder, voler, dir, veure, and tenir.
- Fer plus InfinitiveB1 — Build Catalan causatives with fer plus a bare infinitive, marking the person made to act as a direct or indirect object according to the infinitive's transitivity.
- Expressions with FerB1 — Understand how fer organizes weather, elapsed time, activities, causation, appearance, measurements, and Catalan do/make collocations.
- Light-Verb ConstructionsB2 — Use Catalan support verbs such as fer, donar, prendre, and tenir with the nouns they conventionally select.
- Time and Weather ExpressionsA1 — Tell the time, give dates, and describe weather with Catalan's stored impersonal frames: és la, són les, fa, plou, and hi ha.