French Grammar: The Causative Construction – [FAIRE] + Infinitive
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Identify:
French Grammar: The Causative Construction – [FAIRE] + Infinitive
la grammaire française: le causatif – [FAIRE] + l’infinitif
Study:
The causative construction, as its name implies, is used to express the idea that one person (or thing) gets, has, makes, or causes another action to take place. A causative construction is made up of the following components:
Subject + conjugated [FAIRE] + infinitive of 2nd verb + Direct Object &/or Indirect Object
In the above construction, the Direct Object is the “receiver” of the action (that is, the thing or person being acted upon) and the Indirect Object is the “agent” (that is, the thing or person being caused to act).
The [FAIRE] + Infinitive portion of the causative construction is a unit unto itself and cannot be broken. Nouns – whether Direct Object nouns or Indirect Object nouns – come after the Infinitive. Pronouns – whether Direct, Indirect, or Reflexive – come before [FAIRE].
Ma famille fait construire une maison.
My family is having a house built.
Il a fait réparer la voiture.
He is going to get the car repaired.
Le professeur de français fait parler ses étudiants.
The French professor makes his students speak.
When the sentence contains both a Direct and an Indirect Object noun, the Direct Object always comes first. The Indirect Object is preceded by either par or à.
Elle a fait réparer la voiture par son mécanicien.
She got the car repaired by her mechanic.
Elle a fait réparer la voiture à son mécanicien.
She got the car repaired by her mechanic.
When one or both of the objects in the above examples are replaced by an object pronoun, the object pronoun(s) always come before [FAIRE]. In this case, the usual rules for Double Object Pronoun placement apply.
Elle la lui a fait réparer.
She got it repaired by him.
Note that in the causative construction, the past participle of [FAIRE] does not agree with a Direct Object Pronoun that precedes it.
Adapt:
Demain il va se faire couper les cheveux.
Tomorrow he is going to have his hair cut.
Je fais faire la lessive.
I am having the laundry done.
Les comédies (nous) font rire.
Comedies make us laugh.
Le comptable avait fait venir ses clients au bureau.
The accountant had his clients come to the office.
Le douanier vous a fait ouvrir les bagages.
The Customs Officier had you all open your luggage.
Voilà la photo. Faites passer!
Here is the photo. Pass it around!
Fais voir!
Let me see!
