Published March 7, 2026 — Lesson written by French teacher David Issokson for students who want to learn French online, with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a voice artist from France.
📘 Faire semblant meaning in French
Faire semblant means “to pretend,” “to fake” or “to put on.” It’s one of many faire expressions, where the verb combines with a noun to form an idiomatic meaning. You can say “Il fait semblant” (He’s pretending), or “Il fait semblant de + infinitive” to specify an action (Il fait semblant de dormir — He’s pretending to sleep). Semblant means “semblance” or “appearance” and comes from the verb sembler (to seem). The expression literally means “to make the appearance of something.” 🔊 Jump to examples now.
🎧 Faire semblant pronunciation in French
The pronunciation of faire semblant is /fɛʁ sɑ̃.blɑ̃/ (IPA), which sounds roughly like “fehr sahn-blahn.”
📝 Faire semblant usage examples
L’élève fait semblant d’être malade.
The student is pretending to be sick.
Elle n’est pas fatiguée, elle fait semblant.
She isn’t tired, she’s pretending.
Il fait semblant de ne pas comprendre.
He pretends not to understand.
Les garçons font semblant d’étudier.
The boys pretend to study.
Faire (to make, to do) is one of the most frequently used verbs in French.
Master faire in six key tenses and take my new interactive quiz.
👉 See also: Faire conjugation charts »
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🔗 Related words and expressions
- faire croire que — to make someone believe that
- faire mine de — to act as if, to make a show of
- simuler — to simulate, to fake
- prétendre — to claim, to say that, to purport that
- mentir — to lie
- feindre — to feign, to pretend (more formal)
- faire comme si — to act as if
📚 Related lessons on FrenchLearner!
👉 Faire conjugation charts »
👉 French expressions »
👉 Faire usage examples »
