If fare + infinitive is the construction for making something happen, lasciare + infinitive is the construction for letting it happen. The two share an architecture but live at opposite ends of the volition spectrum: fare imposes, lasciare permits. Italian parents use lasciare + infinitive dozens of times a day ("let the baby sleep, let your sister speak, don't let the cat out"), and adults use it in management, social situations, and any context where they're granting or withholding permission.
This page covers the structure, the clitic placement quirks, the contrast with fare, and the negative imperative form that every parent of Italian-speaking children memorizes early.
The basic pattern
Like fare + infinitive, the structure is:
Lasciare (conjugated) + infinitive + (object)
Lascio dormire il bambino fino alle nove.
I let the baby sleep until nine.
Lasciami parlare, per favore.
Let me speak, please.
I genitori non lasciano uscire la figlia dopo le dieci.
The parents don't let their daughter go out after ten.
The conjugated lasciare carries tense and person; the infinitive carries the action being permitted; the object identifies who is doing the action (or what the action affects). The structure is so close to fare + infinitive that learners who already know fare can transfer most of their knowledge directly.
Fare versus lasciare: the volition contrast
The single most useful comparison is between these two constructions in matched pairs. Fare forces, lasciare permits.
Gli faccio scrivere la lettera.
I'm making him write the letter. (He doesn't want to; I'm forcing him.)
Gli lascio scrivere la lettera.
I'm letting him write the letter. (He wants to; I'm permitting him.)
La maestra fa leggere il bambino ad alta voce.
The teacher makes the child read aloud. (Required.)
La maestra lascia leggere il bambino ad alta voce.
The teacher lets the child read aloud. (Allowed.)
The difference is not just one of register or politeness — it's a difference in who has the will. With fare, the subject of the main clause imposes the action on the embedded subject. With lasciare, the embedded subject already wants to act, and the main subject simply removes the obstacle.
Object marking: direct or indirect?
The person being permitted is marked as a direct object (lo, la, li, le) when the embedded verb is intransitive (sleep, leave, come), and as an indirect object (gli, le) when the embedded verb has its own direct object. This mirrors the rules for fare + infinitive.
| Embedded verb type | Person marked as | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Intransitive (no object) | Direct object (lo, la, li, le) | Lo lascio dormire. (I let him sleep.) |
| Transitive (has object) | Indirect object (gli, le) | Gli lascio scrivere la lettera. (I let him write the letter.) |
Lascio entrare il gatto perché piove.
I'm letting the cat in because it's raining.
Lo lascio entrare perché piove.
I'm letting him (the cat) in because it's raining.
Lascio guardare la TV ai bambini per un'ora.
I let the kids watch TV for an hour.
Gli lascio guardare la TV per un'ora.
I let them watch TV for an hour.
The logic: when the embedded verb already needs a direct-object slot for its own object (la lettera, la TV), the person being permitted gets bumped to indirect-object marking. When the embedded verb has no object, the person can take the direct-object slot directly.
Clitic placement: two equally good options
This is the construction's trickiest feature. With lasciare + infinitive, clitic pronouns referring to the embedded subject or object can attach in two places — and both are perfectly correct in modern Italian.
Option 1: Proclitic on the conjugated lasciare
Me lo lascia fare.
He lets me do it.
Te lo lascio dire io.
I'll let you say it.
Option 2: Enclitic on the infinitive
Lascia farmelo.
He lets me do it. (Same meaning, different attachment.)
Lascio dirtelo io.
I'll let you say it. (Same meaning, different attachment.)
Both options coexist freely. The proclitic version is slightly more common in everyday speech; the enclitic version is felt as a touch more literary or emphatic. Native speakers switch between them without thinking.
This freedom contrasts with fare + infinitive, where the clitics overwhelmingly cluster before the conjugated fare (me lo fa fare, not fa farmelo). With lasciare, both options are alive.
The imperative: two of Italian's most common phrases
The imperative of lasciare + infinitive produces some of the highest-frequency phrases in spoken Italian. Two are essential:
Lasciami in pace!
Leave me alone!
Lasciami parlare!
Let me speak!
Lasciatemi entrare!
Let me in! (plural addressee)
Lasciamolo dormire, ha avuto una giornata difficile.
Let's let him sleep — he's had a hard day.
Notice the clitic attaches to the imperative form (lasciami, lasciatemi, lasciamolo), following the standard rules for clitic-imperative combinations.
The negative imperative: don't let X happen
This is where lasciare + infinitive earns its keep in everyday parenting. The pattern non lasciare + infinitive means "don't let [thing] happen," and Italians use it constantly to warn against accidents.
Non lasciare cadere il vaso!
Don't drop the vase! (Lit: don't let the vase fall.)
Non lasciare entrare nessuno mentre sono fuori.
Don't let anyone in while I'm out.
Non lasciar bruciare la pasta!
Don't let the pasta burn!
Non lasciate uscire il cane senza guinzaglio.
Don't let the dog out without a leash.
The negative imperative singular (tu form) uses non + infinitive, so the structure becomes non lasciar(e) + infinitive + object. The -e of lasciare is often dropped before another infinitive (non lasciar bruciare), though keeping it is also acceptable.
Lasciare in compound tenses
In compound tenses, lasciare takes avere as its auxiliary (it is not reflexive). The participle agrees with a preceding direct object in the usual way.
Ho lasciato dormire il bambino fino a tardi.
I let the baby sleep in.
L'ho lasciata parlare per dieci minuti senza interromperla.
I let her talk for ten minutes without interrupting her. (lasciata agrees with la → l')
Non li abbiamo lasciati uscire perché pioveva.
We didn't let them go out because it was raining. (lasciati agrees with li, masculine plural)
Participle agreement here follows the general rule for direct-object clitics in the passato prossimo — not anything special about lasciare.
The for-vs-against test
A useful diagnostic: think of lasciare + infinitive as the absence of opposition. The subject could have stopped the action but didn't. Fare + infinitive is the presence of pressure — the action wouldn't have happened without the subject's intervention.
L'ho lasciata partire perché era ostinata.
I let her leave because she was stubborn. (I could have stopped her, but I gave up.)
L'ho fatta partire prima del previsto perché c'era un'emergenza.
I made her leave earlier than planned because there was an emergency. (She wouldn't have left without my pushing.)
Hold both in mind together and the contrast clarifies dozens of edge cases.
Common mistakes
❌ Lascio il bambino dormire.
Awkward — Italian strongly prefers verb-then-subject order in causative constructions.
✅ Lascio dormire il bambino.
Correct — infinitive comes immediately after lasciare; the embedded subject follows.
❌ Faccio mio figlio uscire stasera.
Wrong word order, and faccio implies forcing — but you mean letting.
✅ Lascio uscire mio figlio stasera.
Correct — lasciare for permission, and the embedded subject follows the infinitive.
❌ Sono lasciato dormire.
Incorrect auxiliary — lasciare takes avere, not essere.
✅ Ho lasciato dormire il bambino.
Correct — lasciare uses avere in compound tenses.
❌ Non lasciare il vaso cadere!
Wrong word order — Italian places the object after the infinitive in this construction.
✅ Non lasciare cadere il vaso!
Correct — infinitive immediately follows lasciare, then the object.
❌ Lascio scrivere lui la lettera.
Stilted and ambiguous — when the embedded verb has its own object, mark the embedded subject with 'a' or use a clitic.
✅ Lascio scrivere a lui la lettera. / Gli lascio scrivere la lettera.
Correct — 'a lui' or the clitic 'gli' marks him as the indirect-object permittee.
Key takeaways
Lasciare + infinitive is the permissive twin of fare + infinitive. Three points to internalize:
Lasciare permits, fare forces. This is a difference in volition — the embedded subject wants to act with lasciare, doesn't want to act with fare.
Clitic placement is flexible. Both me lo lascia fare and lascia farmelo are correct. Pick whichever sounds smoother in context.
Non lasciare + infinitive is the standard "don't let X happen" warning, used dozens of times daily by Italian parents and a high-frequency phrase any learner needs.
For the contrast with the active causative, see fare + infinitive. For the reflexive variant used for services, see farsi + infinitive. For a consolidated overview of all four causative-family constructions, see the complete causative reference.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Causative Fare + Infinitive (Fare + Inf)B1 — How Italian expresses causation in a single compact construction — making someone do something or having something done — including the tricky placement of the causee, clitics, and the reflexive 'farsi + infinitive'.
- Farsi + Infinitive: Reflexive Causative (Get Something Done)B1 — How to say you 'get' or 'have' something done for yourself — haircuts, repairs, deliveries — using farsi + infinitive, the reflexive causative every Italian uses daily.
- Causative Constructions: Complete ReferenceB1 — A consolidated map of Italian's causative family — fare, farsi, lasciare, and permettere — with the rules for object marking, clitic placement, and how to choose among them.