The causative construction with fare + infinitive is one of Italian's most elegant solutions to a problem English handles clumsily: how to say in one short clause that someone makes someone else do something, or that someone has something done. Where English needs make / have / get + person + to do, Italian fuses the whole idea into fare + infinitive.
Once you internalize this construction, you'll use it dozens of times a day. It's how Italians say I'm getting my hair cut, she made us wait an hour, he had the car washed, that movie made me cry. It's not optional sophistication — it's everyday speech, and avoiding it makes you sound like you're translating word for word from English.
The basic structure
The pattern is simple:
Causer + fare (conjugated) + infinitive + (rest of the clause)
The causer — the person making it happen — is the grammatical subject of fare and conjugates it normally. The action being caused appears in the infinitive, immediately after fare. There is no preposition between them.
Faccio lavare la macchina ogni settimana.
I have the car washed every week.
La sua battuta mi ha fatto ridere.
His joke made me laugh.
Mio padre mi fa studiare due ore al giorno.
My father makes me study two hours a day.
Ci ha fatto aspettare quasi un'ora.
She made us wait almost an hour.
Quel film mi ha fatto piangere.
That movie made me cry.
Notice how compact this is. English needs three verbs and a preposition (made me to laugh — well, to drops, but the structure is still make + object + verb). Italian fuses everything: mi ha fatto ridere is just three words, with mi doing the work of me.
The causee: who is being made to do it?
When the action has only one participant — the thing being acted upon — the structure is straightforward:
Faccio lavare la macchina.
I have the car washed. (no explicit causee — could be anyone)
But when you want to specify who is doing the action — the causee — Italian has a distinctive rule: the causee is introduced with a (like an indirect object).
Faccio lavare la macchina a Marco.
I have Marco wash the car. (lit. 'I have the car washed to Marco')
Faccio leggere il libro a Marco.
I have Marco read the book.
Il professore fa scrivere il tema agli studenti.
The teacher has the students write the essay.
This is genuinely strange to English speakers. In English, Marco would be a direct object: "I have Marco wash the car." In Italian, the original direct object of the embedded verb (la macchina, il libro, il tema) keeps its direct-object status, which forces the causee into the indirect-object slot with a.
The logic, once you see it, is consistent: there is only one direct-object slot per clause, and it's already taken by the original object of the embedded action. The causee gets pushed into the dative.
When there is no original direct object
If the embedded verb is intransitive — has no direct object of its own — then the causee fills the now-vacant direct-object slot.
Faccio piangere il bambino.
I make the child cry. (piangere is intransitive — il bambino is direct object)
Ci ha fatto ridere tutta la sera.
He made us laugh all evening. (ridere is intransitive — ci is direct object)
Il suo discorso ha fatto piangere mia madre.
His speech made my mother cry.
So the rule, summarized:
| Embedded verb | Causee marking | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Transitive (has direct object) | a
| Faccio lavare la macchina a Marco. |
| Intransitive (no direct object) | direct object | Faccio piangere il bambino. |
Clitic pronouns: attach to fare or climb
When you replace the causee or the original object with a clitic pronoun, the clitic almost always attaches to fare (or, in compound tenses, climbs onto the auxiliary). It does not attach to the infinitive.
Lo faccio lavare ogni settimana.
I have it washed every week. (lo replaces 'la macchina' — masc. would be il film)
La faccio lavare a Marco.
I have Marco wash it.
Gli faccio lavare la macchina.
I have him wash the car. (gli = a Marco)
Glielo faccio lavare.
I have him wash it. (glielo = gli + lo, both clitics combined)
In compound tenses, the participle of fare agrees with a preceding direct object — same rule as any avere-based passato prossimo.
L'ho fatta lavare ieri.
I had it washed yesterday. (l' = la macchina, fem. — participle agrees: fatta)
Le ho fatte stampare in alta risoluzione.
I had them printed in high resolution. (le = le foto, fem. pl. — fatte)
This agreement rule is the same one you already follow for direct-object pronouns with the passato prossimo. See clitic placement for the full system.
Compound tenses
The causative is conjugated in any tense — present, passato prossimo, imperfetto, futuro, conditional, subjunctive — by conjugating fare appropriately. The infinitive after fare never changes.
Mi ha fatto aspettare per niente.
She made me wait for nothing.
Da bambini, nostra madre ci faceva mangiare le verdure ogni sera.
As children, our mother made us eat vegetables every night.
Domani farò riparare il computer.
Tomorrow I'll get the computer repaired.
Lo farei sapere a tutti.
I'd let everyone know. (fare sapere = to let know — a fixed expression)
The construction fare sapere a qualcuno — to let someone know — is one of the most common idiomatic uses of the causative. Memorize it as a unit.
Farsi + infinitive: doing something to or for oneself
The reflexive form of the causative — farsi + infinitive — means to have something done to oneself or to get something done for oneself. This is how Italians describe haircuts, medical procedures, tattoos, deliveries, and any other service performed on or for the speaker.
Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli ieri.
I had my hair cut yesterday.
Si è fatta operare in primavera.
She had surgery in the spring. (lit. 'she had herself operated on')
Ti sei fatto fare un tatuaggio?
Did you get a tattoo? (lit. 'did you have a tattoo done for yourself?')
Mi faccio mandare i documenti via email.
I have the documents sent to me by email.
Ci siamo fatti consegnare la spesa a casa.
We had the groceries delivered home.
In compound tenses, farsi takes essere (because it's reflexive), and the past participle of fare agrees with the subject, not with the direct object.
Lucia si è fatta tagliare i capelli.
Lucia got her hair cut. (fem. sg. → fatta)
Si sono fatti costruire una casa al mare.
They had a house built at the seaside. (masc. pl. → fatti)
Lasciare + infinitive: a quick contrast
Italian also has lasciare + infinitive, which means to let or to allow someone to do something. The structure is the same as fare + infinitive, but the meaning is permissive rather than causative.
| fare + inf. | lasciare + inf. |
|---|---|
| Make / have someone do something | Let / allow someone to do something |
| Mi fa ridere. | Mi lascia ridere. |
| (He makes me laugh.) | (He lets me laugh.) |
Lasciami parlare!
Let me speak!
I miei genitori non mi lasciano uscire la sera.
My parents don't let me go out at night.
For the full treatment, see lasciare + infinitive.
Common mistakes
❌ Faccio Marco lavare la macchina.
Incorrect — the causee of a transitive verb takes 'a', not direct-object marking.
✅ Faccio lavare la macchina a Marco.
Correct — Marco is the causee, marked with 'a'.
❌ Faccio a lavare la macchina.
Incorrect — there is no preposition between fare and the embedded infinitive.
✅ Faccio lavare la macchina.
Correct — fare + infinitive directly.
❌ Lo faccio a lavare.
Incorrect — clitics attach to fare, no preposition before the infinitive.
✅ Lo faccio lavare.
Correct — clitic on fare.
❌ Faccio lavarlo.
Awkward — the clitic should attach to fare, not climb onto the embedded infinitive.
✅ Lo faccio lavare.
Correct — clitic raised to fare.
❌ Mi sono tagliato i capelli ieri.
Means 'I cut my own hair' — possible if literally true, but not the normal way to say 'I had my hair cut'.
✅ Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli ieri.
Correct — farsi + infinitive for services done to you by someone else.
❌ Ho fatto la macchina lavata.
Incorrect — Italian uses fare + infinitive (active), not + past participle.
✅ Ho fatto lavare la macchina.
Correct — fare + active infinitive of 'to wash'.
❌ Ci ha fatto a aspettare un'ora.
Incorrect — no preposition between fatto and aspettare.
✅ Ci ha fatto aspettare un'ora.
Correct — direct fusion of fare + infinitive.
Key takeaways
The causative fare + infinitive is the Italian solution to make/have/get someone do something. The structure is fare (conjugated) + infinitive, with no preposition between them. The causee is marked with a when the embedded verb is transitive, and as a direct object when it is intransitive.
Three rules to internalize:
No preposition between fare and the infinitive. They form a single verbal complex.
The causee of a transitive verb takes a. Faccio lavare la macchina *a Marco.* The original direct object (la macchina) keeps its direct-object status; the causee is pushed into the dative.
Clitics attach to fare, not to the infinitive. Lo faccio lavare, never faccio lavarlo. In compound tenses, the participle of fare agrees with the preceding direct object (L'ho fatta lavare).
The reflexive farsi + infinitive — to have something done to/for oneself — is essential for talking about services, deliveries, medical procedures, and personal grooming. Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli is how you say "I got my hair cut," and there is no shorter way.
For the contrast with permission, see lasciare + infinitive. For the deep dive into the reflexive variant, see farsi + infinitive.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Presente: Fare (to do/make)A1 — How to conjugate fare and how to use Italian's most productive verb — collocations, weather, the causative construction, and why English do/make/take/have all collapse into one Italian verb.
- Lasciare + Infinitive: Permissive 'Let'B1 — How Italian expresses 'letting' someone do something — the permissive cousin of fare + infinitive, used constantly in parenting, management, and everyday life.