How to Use Faire and Rendre in French

If youre making something and want to say so in French, which verb do you use, faire  or rendre? This is more complicated than it may seem, because to make can be translated into French in a number of ways. These two verbs are the most common and each has rules governing when and how to use them.   General Usage If youre speaking about making something in a very general sense, then you should use  faire. For example:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Je fais un gà ¢teauIm making a cakeFais ton litMake your bedIl a fait une erreurHe made a mistake The same rule applies when implying causality:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cela  ma  fait  penserThat made me thinkIl me  fait  faire  la  vaisselleHes making me do the dishesTo make in the sense of producing something is fabriquer, while in the sense of building its construire. To talk about forcing someone to do something (e.g., Make me!), use obliger or forcer. Special Cases Things get a little more complicated if you are describing how something makes you feel. In these cases, you should use  faire when its followed by a noun in French, and rendre when its followed by an adjective. For example:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Cela me fait malThat makes me feel pain. That hurts (me).Tu me fais honte !You make me feel so ashamed!Cette pensà ©e fait peurThat thought makes me scared. Its a frightening thought.   Ã‚  Cela me rend heureuxThat makes me happy.Le poisson ma rendu maladeThe fish made me sick.Cest à   te rendre fouIts enough to make/drive you crazy. There are some exceptions, of course. For the following nouns, you need to use the verb donner:   Ã‚  donner soif à   quelquunto make someone thirstydonner faim à   quelquunto make someone hungrydonner froid à   quelquunto make someone (feel) colddonner chaud à   quelquunto make someone (feel) hotBecause all of the above are adjectives in English, you might have a little trouble deciding if the French word is a noun or an adjective. The solution is to think about which French verb it needs to mean to be. Nouns need avoir (avoir mal, avoir soif) while adjectives need à ªtre (à ªtre heureux, à ªtre malade). Other Verbs Many expressions that include to make in English are translated by completely different verbs in French: to make angry fà ¢cher to make an appointment donner/prendre rendez-vous to make believe (pretend) faire semblant to make a decision prendre une dà ©cision to make do se dà ©brouiller to make friends/enemies se faire des amis/ennemis to make the grade y arriver to make (someone) late mettre quelqu'un en retard to make a meal prà ©parer un rà ©pas to make money gagner de l'argent to make sure s'assurer, và ©rifier to make tired fatiguer to make up (invent) inventer, fabriquer(after a fight) se rà ©concilier(with cosmetics) se maquiller