Learn French: Tu dois faire venir le plombier tout de suite ! - You must have the plumber come right away!

Tu dois faire venir le plombier tout de suite !

You must have the plumber come right away!

Breakdown of Tu dois faire venir le plombier tout de suite !

you (informal singular)

Questions & Answers about Tu dois faire venir le plombier tout de suite !

How does the 'faire + infinitive' structure work in faire venir?

This is the causative construction. You use faire followed immediately by an infinitive when you do not do the action yourself, but you cause someone else to do it. You aren't coming to fix the pipes; you are having the plumber come.

Why doesn't le plombier go between faire and venir, like 'have the plumber come' in English?

In French, the faire + infinitive structure acts like one solid block of verbs. You cannot separate them with a noun. Therefore, the person doing the action (le plombier) must come after the infinitive, not in the middle.

Can I just use appeler (to call) instead of faire venir here?

You could say appeler le plombier (to call the plumber), but faire venir specifically emphasizes getting him to actually show up at your house, not just talking to him on the phone.

I sometimes mix up tout de suite and bientôt. Which one is more urgent?

Tout de suite is much more urgent! It means 'right away' or 'immediately.' Bientôt just means 'soon.' If a pipe has burst, you definitely want the plumber tout de suite. As a bonus pronunciation tip, native speakers often drop the 'e' in 'de', making it sound like 'toot-sweet'.