B2 · Verb + infinitive
fare and lasciare + infinitive
« Make » and « let », with the doer in an unexpected place.
At a glance
- Remember
- Nothing comes between fare and the infinitive.
- Form
- faccio riparare la macchinato have something done
- Signal words
- fare fare
- lasciare fare
- farsi
- far venire
- lasciar perdere
- far sapere
- Trap
- Wrong:Faccio il meccanico riparare la macchina.Right:Faccio riparare la macchina dal meccanico.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) person ending
| to have something done | faccio riparare la macchina |
| with the doer | faccio riparare la macchina dal meccanico |
| with a pronoun | la faccio riparare |
| to let | lo lascio dormire |
| to have something done to oneself | si è fatta tagliare i capelli |
| I have the car repaired | (io) faccio riparare la macchina |
| you have the car repaired | (tu) fai riparare la macchina |
| he / she has the car repaired | (lui, lei) fa riparare la macchina |
| we have the car repaired | (noi) facciamo riparare la macchina |
| you have the car repaired (plural) | (voi) fate riparare la macchina |
| they have the car repaired | (loro) fanno riparare la macchina |
| I let him sleep | (io) lo lascio dormire |
| you let him sleep | (tu) lo lasci dormire |
| he / she lets him sleep | (lui, lei) lo lascia dormire |
| we let him sleep | (noi) lo lasciamo dormire |
| you let him sleep (plural) | (voi) lo lasciate dormire |
| they let him sleep | (loro) lo lasciano dormire |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The infinitive follows fare immediately.
Faccio riparare la macchina.I am having the car repaired.
The doer is attached with a or da.
Fa correggere il testo da un collega.She has the text corrected by a colleague.
Pronouns stand before fare, not before the infinitive.
La faccio riparare domani.I am having it repaired tomorrow.
farsi plus an infinitive means having it done to oneself.
Si è fatto rubare la bicicletta.His bicycle was stolen.
Example sentences
Abbiamo fatto venire un tecnico.We had a technician come out.
Non lasciarlo andare da solo.Do not let him go on his own.
Fammi sapere se cambia qualcosa.Let me know if anything changes.
Lascia perdere, non ne vale la pena.Let it go, it is not worth it.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English puts the doer between the two verbs — « I made him wait », « I had the mechanic repair it » — and nothing may come between fare and its infinitive. The doer goes after, with da: faccio riparare la macchina dal meccanico. And before an infinitive fare usually drops its final e: far venire, far sapere, lasciar perdere.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Fare plus an infinitive means having something done rather than doing it: faccio riparare la macchina — I am having the car repaired. English uses two different structures for this, « have it repaired » and « make him repair it », and Italian uses one.
Lasciare plus an infinitive means allowing or not preventing: lo lascio dormire — I let him sleep. The difference is between causing and permitting, exactly as with « make » and « let ».
The infinitive follows immediately after fare. The doer comes afterwards, with a or da: faccio riparare la macchina dal meccanico.
Pronouns stand in front of fare: la faccio riparare. With farsi one has something done to oneself: si è fatta tagliare i capelli.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: fare · riparare · essere · avere · andare · venire · cambiare · valere