Lesson 27: Costruzioni Causative
Fare + infinitive for causation · Lasciare + infinitive for permission · Farsi + infinitive for having something done to you · Pronoun placement and avoiding ambiguity
CEFR Level B2B2 · Lesson 3 of 8Table of Contents
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you will be able to:
Fare + Infinito: Making Something Happen
Fare + infinitive is Italian's core causative structure — you use it any time the subject causes an action to happen, without doing it themselves. English usually needs "have," "make," or "get" for this; Italian just glues fare directly onto the infinitive.
Subject + fare (conjugated) + infinitive + the rest of the sentence. Faccio riparare la macchina. (I have the car repaired / I get the car repaired.) The subject of fare never performs the infinitive's action themselves.
| Italian | Literal structure | English |
|---|---|---|
| Faccio riparare la macchina. | I-make to-repair the car | I'm having the car repaired. |
| Ho fatto costruire una casa. | I-made to-build a house | I had a house built. |
| La maestra fa leggere gli studenti. | The teacher makes to-read the students | The teacher has the students read. |
| Mi fai ridere! | You-make-me to-laugh | You crack me up! |
Pronoun Placement & Avoiding Ambiguity
Once you add the person who actually performs the action, the causative gets a genuine logic puzzle: who's the direct object, and who's the indirect object?
If the sentence has only the thing being done, it's a direct object: Faccio riparare la macchina. → La faccio riparare. But once you name both the thing and the person doing it, the person shifts to an indirect object marked with a (or da to avoid ambiguity): Faccio riparare la macchina a Marco. → Gliela faccio riparare.
| Full sentence | With pronouns |
|---|---|
| Faccio leggere il libro a mio figlio. | Glielo faccio leggere. |
| Ho fatto vedere le foto a Sara. | Gliele ho fatte vedere. |
| Farò firmare il contratto dall'avvocato. | Glielo farò firmare. (using da avoids confusing who signs vs who benefits) |
Lasciare + Infinito: Letting Something Happen
Lasciare + infinitive works exactly like fare + infinitive structurally, but the meaning shifts from causing to permitting — you're not making the action happen, you're simply not stopping it.
Fare = actively cause/arrange for it to happen. Lasciare = allow/not prevent it from happening. Ho fatto uscire il cane (I let/made the dog go out — I opened the door for it) vs Ho lasciato uscire il cane (I let the dog go out — I simply didn't stop it).
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Lascia stare! | Leave it alone! / Let it be! |
| I miei genitori mi lasciavano uscire fino a tardi. | My parents let me stay out late. |
| Lascialo parlare, ha quasi finito. | Let him talk, he's almost done. |
| Non lasciarti convincere facilmente. | Don't let yourself be convinced easily. |
Farsi + Infinito: Having Something Done to You
Add the reflexive pronoun to fare and you get farsi + infinitive — the construction for describing a service done to or for yourself, and one of the most genuinely useful everyday structures in this entire lesson.
Reflexive pronoun (mi, ti, si, ci, vi, si) + fare + infinitive. The subject arranges for someone else to do something to them: Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli. (I got my hair cut — literally "I made myself cut the hair.")
| Pronoun | farsi + infinito (passato prossimo) |
|---|---|
| io | mi sono fatto/a tagliare i capelli |
| tu | ti sei fatto/a tagliare i capelli |
| lui/lei | si è fatto/a tagliare i capelli |
| noi | ci siamo fatti/e tagliare i capelli |
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Mi sono fatto operare al ginocchio. | I had knee surgery (had myself operated on). |
| Si è fatta fare un vestito su misura. | She had a dress made to measure. |
| Ci siamo fatti aiutare da un amico. | We got a friend to help us. |
Dialogues
Cultural Notes: Who's Really Doing the Action?
Italian's causative family reflects a culture where getting things done through the right person — a trusted barber, an accountant, a family friend who knows how to fix things — is deeply normal, and the language has a compact, elegant way to talk about it. Farsi tagliare i capelli, farsi aiutare, farsi consigliare — the reflexive causative shows up constantly in daily conversation about services and favors.
Learners often avoid the causative altogether and just say ho tagliato i capelli (implying you cut them yourself!) — a small mistake that's an easy giveaway of a non-native speaker. Getting comfortable with farsi + infinitive specifically will make you sound noticeably more natural.
Exercises & Practice
Show Answers
1. Lo faccio riparare.
2. Gliel'ho fatto vedere.
Show Answers
1. lasciavano viaggiare 2. fa scrivere
Show Answers
1. Mi sono fatto/a lavare la macchina.
2. Si è fatta fare un vestito.
Write 4–5 sentences about services you've had done recently (haircut, repair, cleaning) using fare and farsi + infinitive.
Lesson Mind Map — Recap
Quick-Review Flashcards
Tap to reveal:
faccio riparare
lo faccio riparare
gliel'ho fatto vedere
lascia stare
mi sono fatto/a tagliare i capelli
farsi aiutare
ho fatto consegnare da Marco
lasciarsi convincere
Resources & Homework
- Write 6 sentences using fare + infinitive, half with pronouns replacing the object(s)
- Write 4 sentences contrasting fare vs lasciare + infinitive with the same verb
- Memorize 5 farsi + infinitive expressions for services (haircut, repair, medical checkup, etc.)
- Fare + infinitive expresses causing or arranging for an action, with the subject not performing it themselves
- With one object, it's direct; with two objects, the person doing the action becomes indirect (a) or, to avoid ambiguity, takes da
- Lasciare + infinitive expresses permission — not stopping something from happening — and contrasts directly with fare's active causation
- Farsi + infinitive is the reflexive causative for services done to or for yourself — mi faccio tagliare i capelli is essential everyday Italian
- Avoiding the causative family entirely is a common learner tell — using it naturally is one of the fastest ways to sound more native