Le chef le leur fait rédiger.

Questions & Answers about Le chef le leur fait rédiger.

Why are the pronouns le and leur placed before fait instead of before rédiger?
In the causative construction (faire + infinitive), the two verbs act tightly together as a single unit. Because of this, object pronouns must be placed in front of the conjugated verb (fait), rather than directly in front of the infinitive (rédiger) like they normally would in other two-verb structures.
Why is it leur (indirect object) and not les (direct object) for "them"?
This is a strict rule of the causative structure: a sentence can only have one direct object. Since "it" (the document being drafted) is already the direct object (le), the people being made to do the action ("them") are forced to become the indirect object (leur).
Why is the order le leur instead of leur le?
In French double pronoun placement, 3rd-person direct objects (le, la, les) always come before 3rd-person indirect objects (lui, leur). If the indirect object were 1st or 2nd person, the order would flip (for example, Il me le fait rédiger).
Could I use écrire here instead of rédiger?
You could, but rédiger carries a more specific meaning of "to draft," "to compose," or "to write up." It is usually used for professional, academic, or formal texts (like reports, articles, or contracts). Given that le chef (the boss) is assigning the task, rédiger perfectly captures the professional context.

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