The French sentence "Fais ce que tu veux"

Get prepared to learn all the things you need to know about the basic sentence “Fais ce que tu veux”.

To be more precise, it includes a complete guide of what it is and how you can use it in a conversation with an audio example. But, we also added some useful stuff like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example and more!

Oh and… you will find our others sentences pages on this page plus all our French words tutorials on this page. Ready to learn? C’est parti ! (Let’s go!)

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French to English translation

How to pronounce it

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean exactly?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

  • Fais → Do
  • Ce que → What
  • Tu → You
  • Veux → Want

This inspirational sentence means “Do whatever you want” and is very often used as advice to someone.

How to use it

You can use it just like you would use “Do whatever you want” in English, for example, when someone is hesitating between several options you can recommend this person to do whatever he/she wants.

You can also use it when you are desperate that someone is not listening to you and is obviously not open to conversation, in this case you can say “Bah ! Fais ce que tu veux !” (Bah! Do whatever you want!). Implying that this person could do what he/she wants but will have to assume the consequences of her/his choice.

Finally, you can be more precise depending on the topic of the conversation. For example, a friend wants a tattoo: “Fais ce que tu veux de ton corps” (Do whatever you want of your body) or about choosing a romantic partner: “Fais ce que tu veux de ton coeur” (Do whatever you want of your heart), etc.

Synonyms

  • Fais ce que tu as envie. (“Do whatever you want“)
  • Fais ce que tu as envie de faire. (“Do whatever you want to do“)
  • Aime et fais ce que tu veux. (“Love and do whatever you want“)
  • Fais ce que tu veux, mais ne tyrannise personne. (“Do whatever you want but don’t bully anybody“)
  • Quoi que tu fasses dans ta vie, les gens te critiqueront alors fais ce que tu veux. (“Whatever you do, people will criticize you, so do whatever you want.“)

Example in a story with translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this idiom in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
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Le déménagement
The house move
___
Théo:   Voici notre nouvel appartement !
Here is our new apartment!
Olivia:   Il est super joli !
It’s super pretty!
Théo:   Mais maintenant il faut organiser nos affaires…
But now we have to organize our stuff…
Olivia:   Oui… Je ne sais pas par où commencer.
Yes… I don’t know where to start.
Théo:   Moi non plus… Peut-être par nos bagages ?
Me neither… Maybe with our luggage?
Olivia:   Bonne idée ! On les met où ?
Good idea! Where do we put them?
Théo:   À côté de la fenêtre.
Next to the window.
Olivia:   D’accord, ensuite ce carton. Qu’est-ce qu’il y a à l’intérieur ?
Alright, then this box. What’s inside?
Théo:   C’est écrit dessus.
It’s written on it.
Olivia:   Ah, oui, c’est la télé. On s’en occupe plus tard ?
Ah, yes, it’s the TV. Let’s take care of it later?
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