B2 · Verb + infinitive
mandar and deixar + infinitive
« Let » and « leave » are one verb here.
At a glance
- Remember
- mandar has it done, fazer brings it about, deixar allows it.
- Form
- mandei reparar o carroto have done
- Signal words
- mandar fazer
- deixar fazer
- fazer lembrar
- deixar cair
- mandar vir
- fazer notar
- Trap
- Wrong:Deixa o assunto cair fora.Right:Deixa cair o assunto.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) ending for tense and person
| to have done | mandei reparar o carro |
| to bring about | fez-me rir |
| to allow | deixei-o dormir |
| with the pronoun attached | mandou-me esperar |
| with the conjugated infinitive, after a noun | mandou os alunos esperarem |
| I had the car repaired (preterite) | (eu) mandei reparar o carro |
| you had the car repaired | (tu) mandaste reparar o carro |
| he / she had the car repaired, you had it repaired (você) | (ele, ela, você) mandou reparar o carro |
| we had the car repaired | (nós) mandámos reparar o carro |
| you had the car repaired, plural (elevated) | (vós) mandastes reparar o carro |
| they had the car repaired, you had it repaired (vocês) | (eles, elas, vocês) mandaram reparar o carro |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
mandar plus infinitive is to have something done.
Mandei pintar a sala.I had the room painted.
fazer plus infinitive is to bring something about.
A notícia fez-me mudar de ideias.The news made me change my mind.
deixar plus infinitive is to allow.
Não o deixes ir sozinho.Do not let him go on his own.
After a pronoun the infinitive stays plain; after a noun it may take a personal ending.
Mandou os alunos esperarem lá fora.He had the pupils wait outside.
Example sentences
Mandámos vir um técnico.We had a technician come out.
Deixa cair o assunto, não vale a pena.Drop the subject, it is not worth it.
Essa música faz-me lembrar o verão.That song reminds me of the summer.
Deixaram-nos entrar sem bilhete.They let us in without a ticket.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Because « let » and « leave » are separate words for you, the fixed pairs built on deixar come out as something else. Deixa cair o assuntois « drop the subject »deixa estaris « leave it »deixa andaris « let it go » None of them is about permission, and all of them use the verb of permission.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Three verbs share the ground English covers with « have », « make », « let » and « leave ». Mandar plus an infinitive is to have something done by somebody else: mandei reparar o carro, I had the car repaired. It is the everyday one.
Fazer plus an infinitive is to bring something about, often against a resistance: fez-me rir, he made me laugh. And deixar plus an infinitive is to allow: deixei-o dormir, I let him sleep.
That third one is where English splits and Portuguese does not. « Let » and « leave » are two verbs for you, and the line between them is thin: « let it drop » and « leave it alone » are different things said with different words. Here both are deixar: deixa cair o assunto, deixa estar, deixa andar.
The person goes in as a pronoun, hung on the end of the verb in a plain statement: mandou-me esperar. After such a pronoun the infinitive stays plain — mandou-nos esperar, not mandou-nos esperarmos. It can take a personal ending only when a noun stands in between: mandou os alunos esperarem.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: fazer · deixar · mudar · ir · entrar · cair · esperar · pintar