Causatif ~ French Causative

Faire + Infinitive
The causative construction faire + infinitive is used to describe when someone/something has something done, causes something to happen, or makes someone do something.

A. To have something done, to make something happen to something 1. 2. 3. Je fais laver la voiture. Le vent fait tomber les feuilles. Les orages font pleurer mes enfants. I'm having the car washed. The wind makes the leaves fall. Storms make my children cry.

B. To have/make someone (an agent) do something 1. If the phrase does not have a receiver (something acted upon), use faire + infinitive + agent a. Je fais crire David. b. Il fait manger sa fille. 2. I'm having David write. He makes his daughter eat.

If the phrase has a receiver, use faire + infinitive + receiver + par or + agent. a. Je fais laver la voiture par David. b. Il fait rparer la machine son fils. I'm having David wash the car. He's having his son fix the machine.

C. Direct object and direct object pronoun: When using the causative, there is always a direct object, either the agent or the receiver. When replacing the direct object with an object pronoun, the pronoun must be placed in front of faire. 1. 2. Je fais crire une lettre / Je la fais crire. Je fais crire David / Je le fais crire. I'm having a letter written / I'm having it written. I'm having David write / I'm having him write.

Pretty straightforward, right? Here's the tricky part: D. When there are two objects, the object of the infinitive (the receiver) is the direct object and the object of faire (the agent) is the indirect object. Note that this means that the agent who was the direct object in example C2 above turns into the indirect object. 1. 2. 3. Je fais crire une lettre par David / Je la lui fais crire. Il fait manger les pommes par sa fille / Il les lui fait manger. Nous faisons visiter la ferme nos enfants / Nous la leur faisons visiter. I'm having David write a letter / I'm having him write it. He's making his daughter eat the apples / He's making her eat them. We have our children visit the farm / We have them visit it.

Note:

Normally when a compound tense is preceded by a direct object, there needs to be agreement (learn more). However, this is not the case with the causative there is no direct object agreement. Il a fait travailler les enfants / Il les a fait travailler. J'ai fait tudier Christine / Je l'ai fait tudier. He made the children work / He made them work. I made Christine study / I made her study.