Breakdown of Il direttore fa fermare la rissa.
fare
to do / to make
il direttore
the manager / the director
fermare
to stop (someone or something)
la rissa
the brawl / the fight
Questions & Answers about Il direttore fa fermare la rissa.
Why is this translated as "has the brawl stopped" rather than "makes stop"?
This uses the causative construction, where fare is paired with an infinitive to show that the subject is causing an action to happen, rather than doing it themselves. While it literally means "makes stop", English usually expresses this as "has [something] stopped" or "has [someone] stop [something]".
Why are fa and fermare right next to each other? Can I say Il direttore fa la rissa fermare?
No, that word order is incorrect in Italian. In a causative construction, the conjugated verb (fare) and the infinitive (fermare) act as an unbreakable block. The direct object (la rissa) must always come after this verb block, unlike in English where the object usually sits in the middle.
If we add who the manager ordered to stop the brawl (e.g., "the guards"), how does the grammar change?
Because fermare already has a direct object (la rissa), the person carrying out the action must become an indirect object introduced by a. You would say, Il direttore fa fermare la rissa alle guardie (The manager has the guards stop the brawl).
How would I rewrite this sentence to say "The manager has it stopped" using a pronoun?