Causative fare + infinitive

Faccio riparare la macchina.I'm having the car repaired.

Italian has a very handy way to talk about something that is done by someone else, because of you: fare + infinitive. It covers "make someone do something" (Mi fa ridere.) and "have something done" (Faccio riparare la macchina.). The verb fare stays in front, the infinitive follows right after it, and the person who actually does the action comes after the infinitive.

Quick shortcut: fare + infinitive, with nothing between the two verbs: Faccio entrare Marco. Faccio riparare la macchina. The person who acts is expressed by a direct pronoun if the infinitive has no object (Lo faccio entrare.) and by an indirect pronoun if it has one (Gliela faccio riparare.).

The basic pattern

The subject (io, Anna…) is the one who causes the action. The infinitive says what happens, and the person or thing doing it follows:

• Faccio entrare i bambini. (I let the children in. / I have the children come in.)
• Il film mi fa ridere. (The film makes me laugh.)
• Il professore fa leggere un testo agli studenti. (The teacher has the students read a text.)
• Facciamo riparare la bici. (We're having the bike repaired.)

Between fare and the infinitive there is no di, a or che: ✅ Mi fa ridere. ❌ Mi fa di ridere. The usual word order is fare + infinitive + the one who acts, so Faccio entrare i bambini is the unmarked choice.

Fare also takes on the sense of "let / show in" with some verbs of movement and showing: far entrare (let in), far uscire (let out), far passare (let through), far vedere (show), far sapere (let someone know). These are very common fixed pairs: Mi fai vedere la foto? (Will you show me the photo?) Fammi sapere! (Let me know!)

The pronouns: direct or indirect?

How the person who acts is expressed depends on whether the infinitive has its own object.

1. The infinitive has no object: the person is expressed by a direct pronoun (lo, la, li, le):

• Faccio entrare Marco. → Lo faccio entrare. (I let him in.)
• Faccio partire i ragazzi. → Li faccio partire. (I have them leave.)

2. The infinitive has an object, and no person is named: the object is the direct pronoun:

• Faccio riparare la macchina. → La faccio riparare. (I'm having it repaired.)

3. The infinitive has an object, and the person who acts is named too: the object stays direct and the person becomes indirect (a + noun, or an indirect pronoun):

• Faccio riparare la macchina al meccanico. → Gliela faccio riparare. (I have the mechanic repair it.)
• Faccio leggere il testo agli studenti. → Glielo faccio leggere. (I have the students read it.)
• Mi fai vedere la foto? → Me la fai vedere? (Will you show it to me?)

The pair of pronouns works exactly as described in Combined object pronouns: the indirect one comes first and changes (mi → me, gli / le → glie-). For the single pronouns, see Direct object pronouns and Indirect object pronouns.

With a noun, the person who acts can be introduced by a (al meccanico) or by da (dal meccanico). Da is the usual choice when a could be misread, because it clearly marks the one who acts: Faccio mangiare il bambino dalla nonna (the grandmother feeds the child) is unambiguous, while Faccio mangiare il bambino alla nonna could be read in two ways.

Where the pronouns go

A pronoun in front of fare belongs to the whole fare + infinitive unit, so it is placed like a pronoun with one verb (see Position of object pronouns):

In the passato prossimo, fare takes avere, and the pronoun goes before the auxiliary. When the pronoun stands for the person who acts, the participle agrees with it: Li ho fatti entrare. (I let them in.) Ho fatto riparare la macchina. (I had the car repaired.)

Making it about yourself: farsi + infinitive

When the subject is the one who benefits (someone does something to me), Italian uses farsi + infinitive, with the reflexive pronoun:

• Mi faccio tagliare i capelli. (I'm getting my hair cut.)
• Si è fatta costruire una casa. (She had a house built for herself.)
• Mi sono fatto operare. (I had an operation.)

The person who does the job comes after da: Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli dal parrucchiere. In the passato prossimo, farsi takes essere, as other reflexive verbs do (see Reflexive verbs in the passato prossimo), so the participle agrees with the subject: Anna si è fatta tagliare i capelli. Mi sono fatto/fatta tagliare i capelli.

Fare vs lasciare

Fare means make or have done (with a few verbs of movement it can also mean "let in / out", as above). When the point is plain permission, "let" or "allow", lasciare is the clearer verb, with the same pattern:

• Lascio parlare Anna. → La lascio parlare. (I let Anna speak.)
• Lasciami finire! (Let me finish!)
• Non lo lascio uscire da solo. (I don't let him go out alone.)

So Faccio uscire il cane means you take the dog out (or have it go out), while Lascio uscire il cane stresses that you allow it to go out. Both verbs follow the same rules for pronouns and position.

Some very common expressions

• fare fare qualcosa a qualcuno: Faccio fare un vestito alla sarta. (I'm having a dress made by the dressmaker.)
• far vedere, far sapere, far sentire: Fammi sentire! (Let me hear!)
• far ridere / far piangere / far arrabbiare: Mi fa arrabbiare. (It makes me angry.)
• far venire qualcuno: Faccio venire il medico. (I'm sending for the doctor.)

Common mistakes

• ❌ Mi fa di ridere. → ✅ Mi fa ridere. (no di between fare and the infinitive)
• ❌ Lo faccio riparato. → ✅ Lo faccio riparare. (an infinitive follows fare, not a participle)
• ❌ Faccio lo riparare. → ✅ Lo faccio riparare. (or Faccio riparare la macchina; the pronoun goes before fare)
• ❌ Gli faccio partire. → ✅ Lo faccio partire. (with an infinitive that has no object, the person is expressed by a direct pronoun)
• ❌ Ho fatto riparare la macchina da il meccanico. → ✅ …dal meccanico. (da combines with the article)
• ❌ Mi ho fatto tagliare i capelli. → ✅ Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli. (farsi takes essere)

Quick check

Can you put the pronouns in the right place?

1. Faccio entrare Marco. → ____ faccio entrare.
2. Faccio riparare la bici. → ____ faccio riparare.
3. Faccio riparare la bici al meccanico. → ____ faccio riparare.
4. Hai già fatto entrare i bambini? → ____ hai già ____ entrare?
5. Ieri ____ ____ tagliare i capelli. (I had my hair cut yesterday; passato prossimo of farsi)
6. Fa' entrare Anna! → ____ entrare!

Key takeaways

• Fare + infinitive says that someone makes something happen or has something done: Faccio riparare la macchina. Mi fa ridere.
• There is nothing between the two verbs, and the person who acts follows the infinitive.
• With an infinitive that has no object, the person is expressed by a direct pronoun (Lo faccio entrare). When the infinitive has an object and the person is named too, the object stays direct and the person becomes indirect (Gliela faccio riparare).
• Pronouns go before a conjugated fare and are attached to an infinitive or fa' (farlo riparare, Falla entrare!).
• Farsi + infinitive is for things done to yourself (Mi faccio tagliare i capelli), with essere in the passato prossimo; the person who does the job follows da.
• Lasciare + infinitive is the plain "let / allow" verb: Lascio parlare Anna.