The use of faire as 'to give/gave'

Question

Ce jour-là, tu me fis le plus beau cadeau. That day, you gave me the most beautiful gift.(HINT: Use le Passé Simple of 'faire') I'm very surprised that faire is used in this here, I thought probably donner. Is faire correct in this context?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Edward,
To add to the brilliant answers:
‘faire un cadeau à qqn’ = to make / to give a gift to sb
‘donner un cadeau à qqn’ = to give a gift to sb
 
 
Je fais un cadeau à ma mère = I make / give a gift to my mother
J’ai fait un cadeau à ma mère = I made / gave a gift to my mother
Il me fait un cadeau = he makes / gives a gift to me
Il m’a fait un cadeau = he made / gave a gift to me
 
Je donne un cadeau à ma mère = I give a gift to my mother
J’ai donné un cadeau à ma mère = I gave a gift to my mother
Il me donne un cadeau = he makes / gives a gift to me
Il m’a donné un cadeau = he made / gave a gift to me
 
Here is a link to idiomatic expressions with 'faire': literality/idioms-with-faire
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée!

Answer

« Faire un cadeau (de qqc) à qqn » is an expression for ' give a present (of something) to someone '

https://www.wordreference.com/fren/faire%20un%20cadeau

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/french-english/faire-un-cadeau-%C3%A0-qn

Answer

Il m'a fait un cadeau. -- He gave/made me a present.

Answer

Because it is a common expression « faire un cadeau » will usually be understood in France as 'give a present' unless otherwise clarified.  If you wanted to also express 'who' made it and remove ambiguity, you could expand with something like « Il m'a fait un cadeau, et il l'a fait lui-même ».