ils firent

did, made, had (something) done

f i ʁ → faire

fir do; make + ent they past tense

verb · third plural · past indicative Rare #23,750

did, made Simple past (passé simple), 3rd person plural: used mainly in literature and formal writing; in speech it’s usually replaced by « ils/elles ont fait ».

FR: Ils firent un gâteau pour l’anniversaire.

EN: They made a cake for the birthday.

Conjugation of faire

faire

Indicative past

	Singular	Plural
First	fis	—
Second	fis	—
Third	fit	firent

Elles firent ce qu'on leur avait dit.

They did what they had been told.

Ses blagues nous firent rire.

His jokes made us laugh.

Et ni lui ni le trésor ne firent jamais reparler d'eux.

And neither he nor the treasure was ever heard from again.

— Paddington 2 (2017)

Elles firent le bon choix.

They made the right choice.

Ils le firent volontiers.

They did so willingly.

Wasseypur et Dhanbad firent partie de l'Etat du Bihar.

Wasseypur and Dhanbad were part of the state of Bihar.

— Gangs of Wasseypur : 1ère partie (2012)

Les chercheurs firent une découverte surprenante.

The researchers made a surprising discovery.

Ils le firent tous.

They all did it.

Les allégations qu'elles firent étaient infondées.

The allegations they made were unfounded.

Aussitôt qu'ils me virent, ils me firent signe de la main.

As soon as they saw me, they waved to me.

Elles le firent volontiers.

They did so willingly.

Chuy et Mabel ne firent jamais allusion à son aventure avec Tenoch et Julio.

Chuy and Mabel never alluded to her affair with Tenoch and Julio.

— Y tu mamá también (2001)

Elles firent toutes objection à sa proposition.

They all objected to his proposal.

Elles firent ce qu'il fallait.

They did what was necessary.

Mais ils n'en firent rien.

But they did nothing of the sort.

— Gangs of Wasseypur : 1ère partie (2012)

auxiliary · third plural · past indicative Rare #41,517

had (something) done, made Literary past tense (passé simple) of « faire », used mostly in books and stories; often used in the causative pattern « faire + infinitive » (to have something done).

FR: Ils firent réparer la voiture.

EN: They had the car repaired.

Conjugation of faire

Indicative past

	Singular	Plural
First	fis	—
Second	fis	—
Third	fit	firent

Ils le firent travailler.

They made him work.

Ils le firent attendre un long moment dehors.

They made him wait outside for a long time.

Les nazis firent disparaître son nom des livres d'histoire.

The Nazis erased his name from history books.

Les bonnes nouvelles lui firent monter les larmes aux yeux.

The good news brought tears to her eyes.

Ils le firent travailler du matin au soir.

They made him work from morning to night.

ils firent

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