Question 1

Why use fais tondre instead of just tonds?

Accepted Answer

The phrase Je fais tondre uses the causative construction which means you are causing an action to happen rather than doing it yourself. If you said Je tonds la pelouse, it would mean you are personally pushing the lawnmower. Here, you are paying or asking someone else to do it.

Question 2

Why is the word order fais tondre la pelouse and not fais la pelouse tondre like the English 'have the lawn mowed'?

Accepted Answer

In French, the causative construction is strictly faire followed immediately by the infinitive verb. You cannot separate the two verbs. The object receiving the action, which is la pelouse here, must always come after the infinitive.

Question 3

Who is actually mowing the lawn in this sentence since it doesn't say?

Accepted Answer

We do not know, and that is very common with this grammar structure! With the faire causative, you can just state what is getting done without mentioning who is doing it. If you wanted to specify, you could add par un professionnel (by a professional) at the end of the sentence.

Question 4

Why is le week-end singular when the English translation says 'on weekends' in the plural?

Accepted Answer

In French, using the singular definite article le before a day or time period like week-end expresses a habit or a recurring event. Therefore, le week-end naturally translates to the habitual 'on weekends' or 'every weekend' in English.

Je fais tondre la pelouse le week-end.

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