If essereis 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 delproprio 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.)