In English, we say something "makes" us happy or angry. In French, a common trap is trying to translate this literally with faire.
To express that an external factor or situation causes a mental or physical state, use the verb rendre followed by an adjective.
| to make (+ adjective) | rendre |
| Me, uncertainty makes me anxious. | Moi, l'incertitude me rend anxieux. |
Placement with Pronouns
When the person experiencing the state is represented by a direct object pronoun (me, te, le, la, nous, vous, les), place it immediately before rendre.
| Something in this situation makes him vulnerable. | Quelque chose dans cette situation le rend vulnérable. |
This structure works across all tenses:
| The situation was difficult, but it hadn't made him vulnerable. | La situation était difficile, mais elle ne l'avait pas rendu vulnérable. |
Adjective Agreement
The adjective following rendre must agree in gender and number with the person or thing being affected (the object).
| They had seen that injustice made people aggressive. | Ils avaient vu que l'injustice rendait les gens agressifs. |
This causative structure is especially useful for expressing how daily frustrations impact your mood.
| The monotony of this work makes my colleague impatient. | La monotonie de ce travail rend mon collègue impatient. |
| The mess and the monotony make me anxious. | Le désordre et la monotonie me rendent anxieux. |
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