📖LearnModule 11 · Lesson 19 of 30Proficient User · CEFR C1, first halfUnit 4 · La voix passive — et comment le français l'évite
Se faire + infinitif
Module 11 of the free French course (CEFR C1, first half), lesson 19 of 30: For something that happened TO you. On this page: 7 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's lesson 19.
The words
French
English
Say it
il s'est fait voler son vélo
he had his bike stolen
eel seh feh voh-lay soh(n) vay-LOH
se faire couper les cheveux
to get a haircut
suh fehr koo-pay lay shuh-VUH
voler
to steal
voh-LAY
le vol
the theft
luh VOHL
se faire aider
to get help
suh fehr ay-DAY
la malchance
bad luck
lah mahl-SHAH(n)S
exprès
on purpose
ehks-PREH
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La règle · The rule
For something that happened TO you, French says se faire plus an infinitive: il s'est fait voler son vélo (he had his bike stolen), elle s'est fait couper les cheveux (she had her hair cut).
Et aussi · And also
The same frame covers bad luck and deliberate choice — the context tells them apart, and the participle fait never agrees here.
Attention · Watch out
se faire + infinitive: the participle fait NEVER agrees here — elle s'est fait couper les cheveux, never faite. Bad luck and deliberate choice share the frame; context decides.
Do it now — on paper
Say all 7 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the French spelling alone — begin with il s'est fait voler son vélo.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the French.
Write two sentences of your own that get the watch-out line right, then the two practice pages of workbook lesson 19 in Module 11 are the written half of this page.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The French Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.