Causativo: fare + infinito
When you don't DO something yourself but you HAVE it done — by a mechanic, a hairdresser, a colleague — Italian uses the causativo: fare + bare infinitive. Faccio riparare la macchina. = I'm having the car repaired. Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli. = I got my hair cut. The same template covers 'make someone do something' (coercion): Lo faccio piangere. = I'm making him cry. The cousin construction lasciare + infinito means 'let someone do something' (permission): Lascia parlare tua sorella. = Let your sister talk. Both use the same word order, the same clitic positions, and the same agreement rules — once you learn one, the other comes free.
The basic shape: fare + infinito
fare is conjugated normally, then comes the bare infinitive of the action being caused. Faccio riparare la macchina. = I'm having the car repaired. Ho fatto pulire la casa. = I had the house cleaned. Farò tagliare l'erba domani. = I'll have the grass cut tomorrow. The thing being acted on (la macchina, la casa, l'erba) follows the infinitive. If you also want to mention the AGENT — the person actually doing the work — you introduce them with da or a: Faccio riparare la macchina dal meccanico. = I'm having the car repaired by the mechanic. Ho fatto pulire la casa a Maria. = I had Maria clean the house. The choice between da and a is partly stylistic, partly regional, and da sounds more agentive.
Position of pronouns: clitics climb onto fare
When you replace the object with a pronoun, the pronoun does NOT attach to the infinitive — it climbs onto fare. Riparo la macchina. → La riparo. but in causativo: Faccio riparare la macchina. → La faccio riparare. = I'm having it repaired. Pulisco la casa. → La pulisco. vs. Faccio pulire la casa. → La faccio pulire. Same with indirect objects and reflexives: Mi faccio tagliare i capelli. = I'm getting my hair cut. (literally: I have the hair cut TO MYSELF.) Gli faccio leggere la lettera. = I'm having him read the letter. With imperatives, gerunds, and infinitives, the clitic block attaches to fare itself: Fammi entrare! = Let me in! / Make me come in! Facendolo riparare... = Having it repaired...
Agreement of the past participle
In compound tenses (ho fatto, avevo fatto...), the past participle fatto agrees with a preceding direct-object clitic, just like in any other passato prossimo: La macchina? L'ho fatta riparare. = The car? I had it repaired. (fatta agrees with la.) I capelli? Me li sono fatti tagliare. = My hair? I got it cut. (fatti agrees with li.) Le foto? Le ho fatte sviluppare. = The photos? I had them developed. With reflexive farsi, the auxiliary is essere and the participle agrees with the SUBJECT: Si è fatta tagliare i capelli. = She got her hair cut. Ci siamo fatti aiutare. = We got ourselves helped.
Coercion vs. service: same form, different flavor
fare + infinito covers two semantic poles. Service / arrangement: Faccio venire l'idraulico. = I'm having the plumber come. Faccio cambiare la serratura. = I'm getting the lock changed. Coercion / causation: Lo fa piangere ogni volta. = He makes him cry every time. Mi hai fatto aspettare due ore! = You made me wait two hours! La canzone mi fa pensare a casa. = The song makes me think of home. Italian doesn't distinguish 'have done' from 'make do' grammatically — context decides. With emotion verbs (ridere, piangere, arrabbiare), it's almost always 'make': Mi fai ridere. = You make me laugh.
lasciare + infinito: 'let / allow'
Swap fare for lasciare and you get permission instead of causation. Lascia parlare tua sorella. = Let your sister talk. Lasciami passare! = Let me through! Non mi ha lasciato finire. = He didn't let me finish. Lascia stare. = Let it be / drop it. Lascia perdere. = Forget about it. The pronoun rules are identical: the clitic climbs onto lasciare, and the participle agrees with a preceding direct-object pronoun. L'ho lasciata andare. = I let her go. With infinitives lasciare can also be lasciar (apocope) before a vowel: lasciar perdere, lasciar andare. Modern usage keeps the full form except in fixed expressions.
Common traps
(1) Don't translate as avere + participle for 'have something done' — ho riparato la macchina means YOU repaired it (yourself). You need ho fatto riparare la macchina for the causative. (2) Word order is fixed: fare + infinitive + object. Faccio la macchina riparare is wrong. (3) The agent goes with da or a, not other prepositions. (4) With body parts and reflexive use, the body part is the direct object and YOU are the indirect: Mi taglio i capelli. = I cut my hair (myself) vs. Mi faccio tagliare i capelli. = I get my hair cut. (5) lasciar fare = to let it happen / let things take their course; idiomatic, often with a shrug.
