Question 1

Why is "makes" translated as rend here instead of fait?

Accepted Answer

In French, to express making someone or something take on a certain quality or state, you must use rendre followed by an adjective. Using faire + adjective is a classic trap for English speakers! Faire is used for "to make" when causing an action, which requires an infinitive verb (like le faire pleurer to mean "to make him cry").

Question 2

Why do we use the direct object pronoun le instead of the indirect pronoun lui before rend?

Accepted Answer

The verb rendre takes a direct object when used to mean "to make" in this context. Since the situation is acting directly upon "him", we use the direct pronoun le. The construction is always rendre [quelqu'un/quelque chose] [adjectif].

Question 3

Who or what is the adjective vulnérable agreeing with here?

Accepted Answer

It agrees with the direct object le (him), because he is the one in the vulnerable state. If the sentence meant "makes them vulnerable", you would use the plural pronoun les and must remember to make the adjective plural too: les rend vulnérables.

Question 4

Is the phrase Quelque chose treated as masculine or feminine for grammatical purposes?

Accepted Answer

It is always treated as masculine singular. Even though the noun une chose on its own is feminine, the indefinite pronoun quelque chose is entirely masculine.

Quelque chose dans cette situation le rend vulnérable.

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