# FR: As-tu fait la vaisselle ? Oui, je l'ai fait(e)



## anversois

To answer with a pronoun As tu fait la vaisselle, is the ansnwer, oui je l'ai fait ou oui je l'ai faite. Thanks in advance.


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## xtrasystole

_'Oui, je l'ai fait*e*'_ / _'Non, je ne l'ai pas fait*e*'_. 

The past participle (_'fait / faite'_) agrees with the direct object ( _l'_ , which stands for _'*la* vaisselle'_) since the direct object comes _before_ the avoir auxiliary.


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## anversois

Regarding-- j'ai fait la vaisselle-- yes-- but it's not a question of having done the dishes as with laver-- J'ai lave la vaisselle-- je l' ai lavee-- but it's the action of doing something as opposed to having done the ensemble of dishes. This is what I found on the Internet---

Ben oui, j’ai toujours dit « faire » la vaisselle.
Pour moi, la « vaisselle » désigne la tâche et non l’ensemble des ustensiles, assiettes et couverts qui sont en vrac dans l’évier.

I'm thinking of "I'm doing it-- I'm doing the dishes.. Je le fais...hence the confusion. I would opt for no agreement.. though Im getting more and more "yes" than "no."


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## Micia93

I understand your confusion
contrary to Xtrasystole, I would spontanously say : "oui, je l'ai fait" because I consider the action and not the dishes (the same with "t'as fait ta chambre" for instance)


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## xtib

Gramatically I would say "je l'ai faite" but orally, I could say it with the "e"..


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## xtrasystole

anversois said:


> it's not a question of having done the dishes as with laver... but it's the action of doing something as opposed to having done the ensemble of dishes.
> ...
> Pour moi, la « vaisselle » désigne la tâche et non l’ensemble des ustensiles, assiettes et couverts qui sont en vrac dans l’évier


Ok, I see what you mean, I didn't get it straight. Nevertheless, the distinction doesn't matter, _'Je l'ai fait_*e*_'_ sounds much more natural (to me, at least  ).


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## anversois

I'm surprised to find that most of the ten French friends to whom I wrote are in agreement with you...(je l'ai faite!) It was an interesting project- and I'll continue to look for other sticky points of grammar. Thanks for getting back to me.


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## Nicomon

Micia93 said:


> [...] I would spontanously say : "oui, je l'ai fait" because I consider the action and not the dishes (the same with "t'as fait ta chambre" for instance)


 But then, if you replaced the verb _faire_ with other action verbs. For instance _« As-tu lavé la vaisselle?/ As-tu rangé ta chambre? »_, you would make the agreement, wouldn't you? _Oui, je l'ai lavé*e */ Oui, je l'ai rangé*e*._ 

So I don't understand why it should be different with _« faire ». _

Lets change the subject to plural (I'd normally use another verb than _faire_... but just for the sake of example)
_- I'm doing my duties = je fais mes tâches _
_- I'm doing them = je les fais_
_- Have you done your duties? Yes, I've done them = Oui, je les ai faites_ (I wouldn't say/write : _je les ai fait_)

Without the agreement, I think I'd say :_ Oui, *c'est* fait._

*Edit :*  Incidentally... welcome to the forum, anversois


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## anversois

Hi and thanks for the welcome. Ok-- I've heard from enough friends, new and old, that have convinced me that one should make the agreement with j'ai fait la vaisselle. It just looked strange when I first saw it and made the distinction between vaisselle as a collection of dishes and the action of doing the dishes. I would have said-- Je le fais maintenant.... Ok.. je me laisse convaincre. Thanks and regards.


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## CapnPrep

Don't worry, anversois, your first reaction was not wrong. In principle, and as you mentioned, you can always replace an action verb in French with _le faire_. Kind of like you can always replace an action verb in English with _do it_. But it doesn't always sound very natural.

In this particular case, the replacement sounds weird in both French and English:


_As-tu fait la vaisselle ? Oui, je l'ai fait._
_Did you do the dishes? Yes, I did it._
So you can believe your French friends when they recommend saying _Oui, je l'ai faite_. But I'm not sure if they know the whole story… Go back and ask them about these examples:


_As-tu déjà fait la vaisselle tout nu ? Oui, je l'ai ____, une fois. _[_*fait* _ou_ *faite*_ ?]
_Chez vous, qui fait la cuisine et la vaisselle ? Moi, bien sûr, et je ____ fais tout nu !_ [_*les*_ ou *le* ?]


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## Micia93

CapnPrep said:


> _As-tu déjà fait la vaisselle tout nu ? Oui, je l'ai ____, une fois. _[_*fait* _ou_ *faite*_ ?] oui, je l'ai fait : points out the fact of being naked, and not the fact of doing the dishes
> 
> _Chez vous, qui fait la cuisine et la vaisselle ? Moi, bien sûr, et je ______ fais tout nu !_ [_*les*_ ou *le* ?] : je fais ça tout nu


 
well, that's how I feel it anyway !


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## Maître Capello

As mentioned by CP, the confusion indeed arises because _faire_ can be used to refer to a former action without repeating that action.

_— As-tu réparé la chaise ?
— Oui, je l'ai répar*ée*._  (_L'_, elision of *la*, refers to _chaise__._)

_— As-tu réparé la chaise ?
— Oui, je l'ai fai*t*._  (not _fai*te*_ ) (_L'_, elision of the neutral *le* (_= __cela_), refers to _réparer la chaise._)

However, when the former verb is _faire_ itself, it is more natural to use the former agreement although both agreements are possible:

_— As-tu fait la vaisselle ?_
_— __Oui, je l'ai fai*te*._ (or possibly _fai*t*_)

On the other hand, when the action is specified by something else (e.g., _tout nu_) and if you don't want to repeat that “something else,” you have to write _fait_ to show you're referring to the whole phrase and not just the direct object.

_— As-tu déjà fait la vaisselle tout nu ?_
_— __Oui, je l'ai déjà fai*te* tout nu._ (_L'_, elision of *la*, refers to _vaisselle._)

_— As-tu déjà fait la vaisselle tout nu ?_
_— __Oui, je l'ai déjà fai*t*._ (_L'_, elision of the neutral *le* (= _cela_),  refers to _faire la vaisselle tout nu._)


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## anversois

I like that explanation-- and the focus on the point that /le/ refers to the action where /la/ refers to la vaisselle-- and that's been the point of confusion all along. Accepting both makes sense to me depending on what's in the speaker's mind. (this reminds me a bit of the use of the subjunctive--when to use and when not to use when the option of both exists depending on the element of doubt or certainty in the speaker's mind).


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## pinto73

@CapnPrep,

Bonjour
Est-ce que la réponse à la deuxième question est la suivante :
_Chez vous, qui fait la cuisine et la vaisselle ? Moi, bien sûr, et je ____ fais tout nu !_ [_*les*_ ou *le* ?]
Moi, bien sûr, et je les fais tout nu !

Je voulais juste vérifier que j'ai bien compris  Merci!


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