Quand je vois ma nièce, je lui fais un câlin.

Quand means when. In this sentence, it introduces the time clause Quand je vois ma nièce = When I see my niece.

You could also sometimes use lorsque, which also means when, but quand is more common and more conversational in everyday French.

French often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or whenever something happens.

So:

• Quand je vois ma nièce = When(ever) I see my niece
• je lui fais un câlin = I give her a hug

This is a habitual meaning, not just one specific future event.

Je vois is the present indicative form of voir.

Conjugation:

• je vois
• tu vois
• il/elle voit
• nous voyons
• vous voyez
• ils/elles voient

Je voie is not the normal present form here.
You may have seen voie in the subjunctive or as the noun way/road, but in this sentence you need the ordinary present tense: je vois.

Because nièce is a feminine noun, meaning niece.

So:

• mon neveu = my nephew
• ma nièce = my niece

The feminine possessive ma is used before a feminine singular noun.

Here, lui means to her.

French uses an indirect object pronoun with faire un câlin à quelqu’un:

• faire un câlin à ma nièce = to give my niece a hug
• je lui fais un câlin = I give her a hug

So the sentence literally works like:

• When I see my niece, I make to her a hug

That is not natural English, but it helps explain why French uses lui.

Because ma nièce belongs to the first clause, and lui belongs to the second clause.

• Quand je vois ma nièce → my niece is the person I see
• je lui fais un câlin → she is the person I give a hug to

So this is not unnecessary repetition. Each clause needs its own grammar.

In French, object pronouns usually come before the conjugated verb.

So:

• Je fais un câlin à ma nièce
  becomes
• Je lui fais un câlin

This is very normal French word order.

Common object pronouns before the verb include:

• me
• te
• lui
• nous
• vous
• leur

Because French normally uses the pronoun lui, not à elle, in a sentence like this.

• Normal: Je lui fais un câlin
• Less normal unless for emphasis: Je fais un câlin à elle

À elle is usually used only for emphasis, contrast, or after certain structures.

For example:

• Je lui fais un câlin à elle, pas à son frère.
  = I give her a hug, not her brother.

Yes, faire often means to do or to make, but French uses many fixed expressions with faire.

Faire un câlin is an idiomatic expression meaning:

• to give a hug
• to cuddle, depending on context

So even though the literal wording may feel strange to an English speaker, it is a very natural French expression.

Sometimes learners expect donner un câlin because English says give a hug, but faire un câlin is the more standard and natural French expression in many contexts.

You may hear other variations depending on region and style, but faire un câlin à quelqu’un is very safe and common.

Because câlin is a countable noun here: a hug.

French usually needs an article before singular count nouns:

• un câlin = a hug
• un livre = a book
• une idée = an idea

English sometimes drops articles in places where French does not, but here both languages use one:

• a hug
• un câlin

They are not the same:

• un câlin = a hug / cuddle
• un bisou = a kiss, usually a small affectionate one

So:

• je lui fais un câlin = I give her a hug
• je lui fais un bisou = I give her a kiss

Nièce is pronounced roughly like nyess.

A few helpful points:

• ni- often sounds like ny
• the grave accent in è gives an eh sound
• the final -ce here sounds like ss

So: nyess

The comma is natural and helpful, because the sentence begins with a time clause:

• Quand je vois ma nièce, je lui fais un câlin.

It separates:

1. the time clause
2. the main clause

In informal writing, some people may leave punctuation out more freely, but with a sentence like this, the comma is standard and clear.

Yes. In context, Quand je vois ma nièce, je lui fais un câlin often has the sense of Whenever I see my niece, I give her a hug.

French quand can cover both ideas, and the habitual present tense helps create that whenever meaning.