Breakdown of I bagagli sono pesanti, quindi li faccio portare dal facchino.
essere
to be
pesante
heavy
il bagaglio
the luggage
fare
to do / to make
portare
to bring, to carry
li
them (masculine direct object)
quindi
therefore / so
da
by (agent of a passive verb)
il facchino
the porter
Questions & Answers about I bagagli sono pesanti, quindi li faccio portare dal facchino.
Why is li placed before faccio instead of being attached to portare?
This is the strict rule for causative verbs like fare (to make/have someone do something) and lasciare (to let). When you use an object pronoun like li (them), it must go immediately before the conjugated causative verb. You cannot attach it to the end of the infinitive, so faccio portarli is incorrect in Italian.
Why does the sentence use dal facchino (by the porter) instead of al facchino or just il facchino?
In Italian causative sentences, if the infinitive verb (portare) already has a direct object (here, li representing the bags), the person performing the action is introduced by da (by). It functions similarly to a passive sentence: literally, 'I have the bags carried by the porter.' If there were no direct object involved, the person doing the action would simply be the direct object, as in Faccio lavorare il facchino (I make the porter work).
How does fare translate to 'have' in this context?
When fare is followed directly by an infinitive verb, it creates a causative construction. It expresses causing an action to happen rather than doing it yourself. In English, this usually translates to 'having someone do something' or 'making someone do something.' So faccio portare translates naturally to 'I have [someone] carry'.
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