When managing a busy hotel, you constantly delegate tasks. In Italian, you use the causative verbs fare (to make / to have someone do something) and lasciare (to let someone do something) followed directly by an infinitive verb.
Placing pronouns with causative verbs
Usually, when a conjugated verb is followed by an infinitive, you can choose to attach an object pronoun (like lo, la, li, or le) to the end of the infinitive.
However, causative verbs are an important exception. With fare and lasciare, clitic pronouns must strictly precede the conjugated causative verb. You can never attach them to the infinitive.
- Correct: Lo faccio chiamare.
- Incorrect: Faccio chiamarlo.
| Seeing as the customer is tired, I have the porter help him. | Visto che il cliente è stanco, lo faccio aiutare dal facchino. |
| Given that the minibars are empty, I am having them restocked immediately. | Dato che i frigobar sono vuoti, li faccio rifornire subito. |
The exact same rule applies when using lasciare to let someone do a task. The pronoun sits right before the conjugated form of lasciare.
| It is a feasible task, I let the housekeeper delegate it. | È un compito fattibile, lo lascio delegare alla governante. |
| The fitted carpet is very dirty, I let the housekeeper remove the stain from it. | La moquette è molto sporca, la lascio smacchiare alla governante. |
Negative sentences
In negative sentences, the word non simply goes before the object pronoun. The pronoun and the causative verb remain tightly locked together.
| The customer complains about the service failure, but I don't have the housekeeper resolve it. | Il cliente si lamenta del disservizio, ma non lo faccio risolvere alla governante. |