Breakdown of Devi far riparare i tubi all'idraulico.
fare
to do / to make
a
to / at
dovere
must
riparare
to repair
il tubo
the pipe
l'idraulico
the plumber (m)
Questions & Answers about Devi far riparare i tubi all'idraulico.
Why is it all'idraulico (to the plumber) instead of just l'idraulico?
This is the main rule for the causative construction. Because the sentence already has a direct object (i tubi, the things being repaired), the person doing the action must be introduced by the preposition a. This avoids the confusion of having two direct objects in one sentence. If there were no pipes mentioned, you would just use a direct object for the plumber: Devi far venire l'idraulico (You must have the plumber come).
Why does fare lose its 'e' and become far here?
Can I put the plumber between the two verbs, like we do in English? (Devi far all'idraulico riparare...)
No, you cannot separate the verbs. In Italian, the causative verb (far) and the following infinitive (riparare) act like a single, unbreakable block. While English splits them up (have the plumber repair), Italian keeps the verb block together and places the objects and people after it.
If I wanted to replace all'idraulico with a pronoun like 'him', which pronoun would I use and where would it go?
Because all'idraulico uses the preposition a, it acts as an indirect object. Therefore, you must use the indirect object pronoun gli (to him). You can place it before the conjugated modal verb (Gli devi far riparare i tubi) or attach it to the end of the causative verb (Devi fargli riparare i tubi).
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