Je fais chauffer la soupe pendant que Marie met la table.

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Breakdown of Je fais chauffer la soupe pendant que Marie met la table.

• Marie: Marie
• la soupe: the soup
• pendant que: while

Questions & Answers about Je fais chauffer la soupe pendant que Marie met la table.

Why does French say je fais chauffer la soupe instead of just je chauffe la soupe?

Both are possible.

Je chauffe la soupe means I am heating the soup in a direct way.

Je fais chauffer la soupe literally means I make the soup heat up. In everyday French, this is a very common way to say I’m heating up the soup, especially when you mean you are putting it on the stove or in the microwave so that it warms up.

So in this sentence, je fais chauffer la soupe sounds very natural.

How does faire + infinitive work here?

This is a very common French pattern:

faire + infinitive

It often means to make/cause something to happen or to have/get something done.

In this sentence:

• je fais chauffer la soupe = I make the soup heat up / I heat up the soup

Other examples:

• Je fais réparer la voiture. = I’m having the car repaired.
• Elle fait venir Paul. = She makes Paul come / sends for Paul.

So fais is the conjugated verb, and chauffer stays in the infinitive.

Why is there no de between fais and chauffer?