Is the pronunciation of 'faisons'

ReneB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Is the pronunciation of 'faisons'

irregular? It sounds like 'fesons' (the 'ai' is not pronounced as in 'il fait' or 'vous faites').
Asked 6 years ago
AurélieKwiziq team memberCorrect answer
Bonjour à tous !

So the answer is that faisons is a very weird case in French, as it is indeed pronounced "fesons".
The same particularity applies to all forms of faire in [kwiziq_link type="lexical_feature" id=45], because, as you know, the Imparfait stem is based on the nous form of [kwiziq_link type="lexical_feature" id=43]:
nous faisons => je faisais... (je "fesais")
I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
The "ai" in "faisons" should be pronounced like the "ai" in "faites". You can go to the Google translator, choose French as the language and enter "faisons", then click on the litlle loudspeaker icon and hear it pronounced for you. -- Chris (not a native speaker).
ReneB2Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Merci pour votre réponse, Claus. To me faisons sounds like fesons (not like fésons) I found this on a blog: The standard pronunciation of faisons is indeed [fəzɔ̃]... And this explanation at https://leconjugueur.lefigaro.fr/conjugaison/verbe/faire.html Règle du verbe faire: Même si on écrit, nous faisons, on le prononce comme nous fesons. So, I was wondering about such an unusual pronunciation.
ChrisC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Oui, tu as peut-être raison. Cettes différences sont difficile à partager par un message écrit. Quand je dis "faisons" de voix haute ça sonne plus comme f"é"sons. --Chris.
KimA2Kwiziq community member
I find this link helpful https://www.thoughtco.com/faire-to-make-to-do-1371033. Here is a quote explaining a bit about the irregular pronunciation of faisons: If the nous form is more predictable, its pronunciation is not. Nous faisons is pronounced "feu zon," not "fay zon." Since the imperfect indicative is based on the nous form of the present, this irregular pronunciation carries throughout the imperfect: Il faisait = il feuzay
NevB2Kwiziq community member
I bet this depends on where the person is from no? Check this out, on forvo, one prononciation sounding like "fesons" from France, another as you'd expect if "ai" were pronounced as it usually is, from Canada,... https://forvo.com/word/ll_faisait_froid/#fr
NevB2Kwiziq community member
I meant to say "fesait" above. Since people pointed out that faisait/feson and other conjugations of faire share this pronunciation in French from France.
AurélieKwiziq team member
Bonjour Nev ! Yes, it does seem to be a difference of pronounciation between France and Québec here, as in France, you would definitely say [fesons] and [fesais] :)

Is the pronunciation of 'faisons'

irregular? It sounds like 'fesons' (the 'ai' is not pronounced as in 'il fait' or 'vous faites').

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