fai falta
Needing Something: Fai Falta
Fai falta + noun or infinitive means "is needed": Fai falta pan (we need bread), Non fai falta vir (there's no need to come). With a plural noun it becomes fan falta.
How It Works
Form: fai falta + noun or infinitive. The verb is facer, and falta never changes.
With a noun, the noun is the grammatical subject, so the verb agrees with it: Fai falta pan (singular), Fan falta dúas cadeiras (plural).
With an infinitive, the verb stays singular: Non fai falta vir, Fai falta reservar mesa.
Who needs it: an indirect object pronoun names the person: Faime falta un coche (I need a car), Faiche falta algo? (Do you need anything?). The pronoun follows the usual placement rules: after the verb in a plain statement or a yes/no question, and before it after non: Non me fai falta.
Other tenses: fixo falta (was needed), facía falta, fará falta (will be needed).
Fai, not hai. The verb is facer, as in Spanish hace falta. Do not mix it with hai que: say Fai falta pan or Hai que mercar pan, not Hai falta pan. Hai falta de + noun is a different expression that means "there is a lack of": Aquí hai falta de seriedade. The standard also accepts facer falla with the same meaning.
Examples (6)
- Fai falta pan para a cea.
We need bread for dinner.
Word by Word: Makes lack bread for the dinner.
- Fan falta dúas cadeiras máis.
Two more chairs are needed.
The plural noun dúas cadeiras makes the verb plural: fan.
- Non fai falta vir mañá.
There's no need to come tomorrow.
- Faime falta un coche novo.
I need a new car.
Word by Word: Makes-me lack a car new.
The pronoun me names the person who needs it.
- Faiche falta algo?
Do you need anything?
In a yes/no question the pronoun stays after the verb.
- Fixo falta moita paciencia.
It took a lot of patience.
Word by Word: Made lack much patience.
Common Mistakes
Keeping the verb singular before a plural noun.
Fai falta dúas cadeiras.Fan falta dúas cadeiras.The noun that is needed is the subject, so a plural noun needs the plural verb fan.
Using hai instead of fai.
Hai falta pan para a cea.Fai falta pan para a cea.The verb in this expression is facer. Hai belongs to hai que + infinitive, a different structure.
Starting the sentence with the pronoun.
Me fai falta un coche.Faime falta un coche.An unstressed pronoun cannot begin a Galician sentence, so it attaches to the end of fai.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Fai falta makes the needed thing its subject and can mark the person with an indirect pronoun.
Related Patterns
- hai que + InfinitiveOne Must: Hai Que
A different impersonal structure for obligation, not to be mixed with fai falta.
Level 2 - cómpreIt Is Necessary: Cómpre
A more formal way to say that something is necessary.
Level 3 - ter que + InfinitiveHaving to: Ter Que
Says that a specific person must do something.
Level 2 - me / che / lle / nos / vos / llesIndirect Object Pronouns
The indirect object pronouns that name who needs something.
Level 2 - Avoiding Spanish Interference
Other everyday expressions where Spanish habits cause mistakes.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice fai falta in Bubblegum
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