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I recently came across this site that has an interesting quote along the page.

Quand je fais quelque chose de bien, j'essaie de le faire encore mieux.

The latter contradicts with what I've learned so far in French, however.

My Question: Why is it ”de le faire” and not “du faire”?

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    This le is not an article (i.e. like the) but a pronoun (i.e. like it). Only the article contracts with de. (This may also be of interest: french.stackexchange.com/questions/10869/…)
    – Stéphane Gimenez
    Commented Feb 9, 2015 at 11:59
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    Is it really fair, & inasmuch as “fairness” isn't a concern, is it really beneficial to this forum, the viability of which is contingent on the continued active participation of its current users, as well as on the attraction of actively participating future users eager to improve their French, to close, as duplicates, any & all new questions on a subject simply because there exists one single treatment thereof, regardless of its obvious beauty & apparent exhaustive coverage of the subject, especially, but not limited to, one that is humbly termed by its own author as an “Ébauche à completer”?
    – Papa Poule
    Commented Feb 13, 2015 at 15:32

2 Answers 2

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It depends on what "le" is.

Before a noun, "le" is an article, you can contract to "du". Before a verb, "le" is a pronoun, you can't contrat : it's "de le".

Example :

Je voulais remplir la gamelle du chien, mais j'ai oublié de le faire.

Translated literally: I wanted to fill the (article) dog's dish, but I forgot to do it (pronoun).

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Yes, when "Le", "la", or "Les" is before a noun (Object, Place, Thing, etc.), it is an Article. However, when it is before a verb you can not contract and it is a pronoun or object of the verb.

examples:

  • Je les deteste.
  • Je l'aime.
  • Je le ferai.
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