The Causative Construction
When you hire a professional or ask someone else to do a task for you, French uses the causative construction. To say you are "having something done," conjugate the verb faire and follow it immediately with the infinitive (the dictionary form) of the action verb.
| I am having the car repaired at the mechanic's. | Je fais réparer la voiture chez le garagiste. |
| She is having her skirt shortened at the tailor's. | Elle fait raccourcir sa jupe chez le tailleur. |
Using Modal Verbs
You can easily combine this construction with verbs like devoir (must), aller (going to), or vouloir (to want). Simply conjugate the first verb, and leave both faire and the action verb in their infinitive forms.
| You must have the plumber come right away! | Tu dois faire venir le plombier tout de suite ! |
| I would like to have this coat shortened. | Je voudrais faire raccourcir ce manteau. |
Errands and Chores
This structure is essential for talking about everyday services and chores, like getting a stain removed at the dry cleaner or having the lawn mowed.
| Are you going to have this stain cleaned at the dry cleaner's? | Tu vas faire nettoyer cette tache au pressing ? |
| I have the lawn mowed on weekends. | Je fais tondre la pelouse le week-end. |
Object Pronouns
When you replace the thing being acted upon with a direct object pronoun (like le, la, or les), the causative construction acts as a single block. The pronoun must be placed before faire, not before the action verb.
| I am going to have it repaired. | Je vais le faire réparer. |
