詳解動詞Fare

If essere is the Swiss army knife of verbs, then fare is the all-in-one, handy-dandy kitchen appliance. The verb fare expresses the basic idea of doing or making, as in fare gli esercizi (to do the exercises) and fare il letto (to make the bed), but it is also used in many idioms).

IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS WITH FARE

fare i compiti
to do one's homework

fare il biglietto
to purchase a ticket

fare la fila/la coda stand
on line/wait on line

fare la spesa
to go grocery shopping

fare le spese
to go shopping

fare forca
to play hooky

fare vedere
to show someone something

fare una domanda
to ask a question

fare una fotografia
to take a picture

fare una passeggiata
to take a walk

fare colazione
to have breakfast

fare un viaggio
to take a trip

fare un capello in quattro
to split hairs

farsi la barba
to shave

farsi coraggio
to take heart

fare castelli in aria
to daydream

fare fingere
to pretend, make believe

fare male
to be painful, to ache

farsi in la
to step to one side

fare di tutto
to do everything possible

fare del proprio meglio
to do one's best

farsi degli amici
to make friends

fare alla romana
to split the check

fare il pieno
to fill up the gas tank

fare passare
to let through

Note that the infinitive fare is frequently abbreviated to far before a consonant. For example, you may say far colazione, far male, far torto. Fare is also used in many expressions relating to the weather (note that in the following translations,"it" is an impersonal subject and does not have an equivalent in Italian):

Che tempo fa? (How is the weather?)

Fa bel tempo. (The weather is nice.)

Fa cattivo tempo. (The weather is bad.)

Ha fatto caldo. (It has been warm.)

Qui fa sempre freddo. (It's always cold here.)

In primavera fa sempre fresco. (In spring it's always cool.)

Besides idiomatic expressions, and expressions relating to the weather, the verb fare is used in a number of proverbs:

Fare e disfare è tutt'un lavorare. (It's all go, it's a hard life.)

Chi la fa l'aspetti. (You will get as good as you gave.)

Chi fa da sé fa per tre. (If you want something done, do it yourself.)

Non fare agli altri ciò che non vorresti fosse fatto a te. (Do as you would be done by.)

Tutto fa brodo. (Every little bit helps.)

Chi non sa fare, non sa comandare. (A bad worker is a bad master.)