Breakdown of El trance te hace dormir profundamente.
hacer
to do / to make
dormir
to sleep
te
to you / you (direct object)
el trance
the trance
Questions & Answers about El trance te hace dormir profundamente.
Why is the pronoun te placed before hace rather than attached to dormir?
In causative structures with hacer or dejar, the conjugated verb and the infinitive act as a single unit. Because of this tight bond, object pronouns like te must go before the conjugated verb (hace). You cannot attach the pronoun to the infinitive here; saying El trance hace dormirte sounds unnatural and is generally considered incorrect.
Is te a direct or indirect object pronoun in this sentence?
It is a direct object pronoun. In Spanish causative structures, if the infinitive verb is intransitive (meaning it doesn't take a direct object of its own, like dormir), the person performing that action is treated as the direct object. If the infinitive were a transitive verb (like reading a book), the person would act as the indirect object instead.
Could I use the subjunctive here and say El trance hace que duermas profundamente?
Yes, hacer que followed by the subjunctive is another grammatically correct way to express that something causes an action. However, the causative infinitive structure (te hace dormir) is usually preferred and sounds much more natural when the person being affected can be represented by a simple pronoun.
Why isn't there a preposition connecting hace and dormir?