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).
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IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS WITH FARE
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fare i compiti
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to do one's homework
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fare il biglietto
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to purchase a ticket
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fare la fila/la coda stand
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on line/wait on line
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fare la spesa
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to go grocery shopping
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fare le spese
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to go shopping
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fare forca
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to play hooky
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fare vedere
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to show someone something
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fare una domanda
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to ask a question
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fare una fotografia
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to take a picture
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fare una passeggiata
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to take a walk
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fare colazione
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to have breakfast
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fare un viaggio
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to take a trip
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fare un capello in quattro
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to split hairs
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farsi la barba
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to shave
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farsi coraggio
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to take heart
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fare castelli in aria
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to daydream
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fare fingere
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to pretend, make believe
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fare male
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to be painful, to ache
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farsi in la
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to step to one side
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fare di tutto
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to do everything possible
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fare del proprio meglio
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to do one's best
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farsi degli amici
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to make friends
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fare alla romana
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to split the check
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fare il pieno
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to fill up the gas tank
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fare passare
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to let through
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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.)
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