French grammar · Advanced
The Faire Causative in French: Faire + Infinitive Explained
The causative is faire plus an infinitive, and it says that the subject arranged an action rather than performed it: je fais réparer ma voiture means someone else does the repairing. It covers both English have something done and make someone do something, and the past participle fait never agrees in this construction.
Je fais réparer ma voiture demain.
I'm having my car repaired tomorrow.
What it is
French has no equivalent of the English pattern I had my hair cut, with its past participle and its missing agent. Instead it puts faire in front of an infinitive: je me fais couper les cheveux. The subject of faire is the person who caused the action; whoever actually carried it out may not be mentioned at all.
Elle fait construire une maison. — She's having a house built. (an architect and builders do the work)
How to spot it
Look for faire followed directly by an infinitive with nothing in between. Whatever comes after the infinitive is what the action was done to, and any person mentioned with à or par is the one who did it.
- Je fais nettoyer le tapis. — I'm having the rug cleaned.
- Tu me fais rire. — You make me laugh.
- Il fait lire le texte à ses élèves. — He has his pupils read the text.
- Elle s'est fait opérer. — She had an operation.
Nothing may sit between faire and its infinitive. Objects go after the infinitive, and pronouns go in front of faire.
Faire Causative Quick Reference
The causative patterns
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| faire + infinitif | to have something done | faire repeindre la cuisine — to have the kitchen repainted |
| faire + infinitif + qqn | to make someone do something | faire travailler les élèves — to make the pupils work |
| faire + infinitif + qqch + à qqn | two objects: the doer takes à | faire lire le texte à Paul — to have Paul read the text |
| faire + infinitif + qqch + par qqn | the doer takes par when à is ambiguous | faire envoyer le colis par un coursier — to have the parcel sent by a courier |
| pronoun + faire + infinitif | pronouns attach to faire | Je le fais réparer. — I'm having it repaired. |
| se faire + infinitif | to have something done to yourself | se faire couper les cheveux — to get one's hair cut |
| fait | invariable in the causative | Je les ai fait venir. — I had them come. |
Common Faire Causative Examples in French
The causative across its main uses:
Having Something Done
- Je fais réparer mon vélo.
- I'm having my bike repaired.
- Elle fait construire une maison en Bretagne.
- She's having a house built in Brittany.
- Nous avons fait repeindre le salon.
- We had the living room repainted.
- Ils font livrer les courses le samedi.
- They have their shopping delivered on Saturdays.
The agent is often left out entirely, exactly as in English. Nobody needs to know who repaired the bike.
Making Someone Do Something
- Le professeur fait travailler ses élèves.
- The teacher makes his pupils work.
- Tu me fais rire.
- You make me laugh.
- Cette chanson me fait pleurer.
- That song makes me cry.
- Il a fait attendre tout le monde.
- He kept everybody waiting.
Here the person is a direct object, which is why it becomes me, te, le, la, nous, vous, or les.
Two Objects: the Doer Takes À or Par
- J'ai fait relire mon texte à ma sœur.
- I got my sister to proofread my text.
- Le prof a fait apprendre le poème aux enfants.
- The teacher had the children learn the poem.
- Elle a fait envoyer le colis par un coursier.
- She had the parcel sent by a courier.
- On lui a fait signer le contrat.
- They got him to sign the contract.
Once the infinitive already has its own direct object, the person doing the action can no longer be one, so à or par takes over.
Se Faire + Infinitive
- Je me suis fait couper les cheveux.
- I had my hair cut.
- Elle s'est fait voler son sac.
- She had her bag stolen.
- Il s'est fait renvoyer.
- He got himself fired.
- Nous nous sommes fait aider par un ami.
- We got a friend to help us.
Se faire covers both things you arranged for yourself and things that happened to you, which is why the same structure can be a haircut or a theft.
How the Causative Is Built
Five rules, and the last two are where nearly all the written errors happen.
Faire and the Infinitive Stay Together
The two verbs form a single block. Nouns cannot be inserted between them, so what English says as I made my son do his homework has to be reordered in French.
J'ai fait faire ses devoirs à mon fils.
I made my son do his homework.
faire + infinitif, nothing in between.
One Object Is Direct
If the infinitive has no object of its own, the noun that follows is a plain direct object, whether it is a thing being acted on or a person being made to act.
Elle fait travailler son équipe.
She makes her team work.
Single object → direct object.
Two Objects Push the Doer to À
A verb can only have one direct object, so when the infinitive already has one, the person performing the action is expressed with à. This is where French and English diverge most visibly.
Il fait lire le journal à sa grand-mère.
He gets his grandmother to read the paper.
Two objects → doer takes à.
Par Removes the Ambiguity
À can be read as a recipient rather than an agent: faire écrire une lettre à Paul might mean Paul writes it or the letter is written to him. Par makes the agent reading explicit.
Elle a fait écrire la lettre par son avocat.
She had the letter written by her lawyer.
Ambiguous à → switch to par.
Fait Never Agrees
In every other avoir construction the past participle agrees with a preceding direct object. In the causative it does not, because that object belongs to the infinitive rather than to faire.
Les gâteaux, je les ai fait livrer.
The cakes, I had them delivered.
fait, always. Never faite or faits.
Common Mistakes with Faire Causative
Incorrect: Je fais que ma voiture soit réparée. — I'm having my car repaired.
Correct: Je fais réparer ma voiture. — I'm having my car repaired.
French does not build the causative with a subordinate clause. Faire takes a bare infinitive, and the thing acted on simply follows it.
Incorrect: J'ai fait mon fils faire ses devoirs. — I made my son do his homework.
Correct: J'ai fait faire ses devoirs à mon fils. — I made my son do his homework.
Nothing can come between faire and its infinitive. Because the infinitive already has an object (ses devoirs), the person doing the work has to be introduced by à.
Incorrect: Ma voiture, je l'ai faite réparer. — My car, I had it repaired.
Correct: Ma voiture, je l'ai fait réparer. — My car, I had it repaired.
The participle fait does not agree in the causative, because la voiture is the object of réparer rather than of faire. This is the single most common written slip with this construction.
Incorrect: Elle s'est faite couper les cheveux. — She had her hair cut.
Correct: Elle s'est fait couper les cheveux. — She had her hair cut.
Se faire looks like an ordinary pronominal verb, but the causative rule still applies, so fait stays invariable no matter who the subject is.
Se Faire + Infinitive
The reflexive causative is extremely common in speech and covers two situations that English keeps apart.
Arranging something for yourself
Se faire plus an infinitive says you organised a service that someone else performed on you or for you. It is the standard way to talk about haircuts, tattoos, medical appointments, and deliveries.
- Je me fais livrer les courses.
- I have my shopping delivered.
- Elle se fait teindre les cheveux.
- She has her hair dyed.
- On s'est fait construire une terrasse.
- We had a terrace built.
- Tu devrais te faire examiner.
- You should get yourself examined.
Note that the body part takes a definite article, not a possessive: se faire couper les cheveux, not ses cheveux.
Something happening to you
The same structure with an unpleasant infinitive turns into a kind of passive. The subject did not arrange anything, but is on the receiving end.
- Il s'est fait renvoyer la semaine dernière.
- He got fired last week.
- Elle s'est fait voler son vélo.
- She had her bike stolen.
- Je me suis fait arrêter par la police.
- I got stopped by the police.
- Ils se sont fait avoir.
- They got taken in.
This is often preferred to the true passive, which sounds formal in speech: il s'est fait renvoyer is far more natural than il a été renvoyé in conversation.
The participle stays fait
Se faire takes être in the compound tenses, so agreement would normally be expected. The causative rule wins: fait is invariable however many people are involved.
- Elle s'est fait couper les cheveux.
- She had her hair cut.
- Elles se sont fait avoir.
- They got taken in.
- Nous nous sommes fait expliquer les règles.
- We had the rules explained to us.
Compare se faire mal, where mal is not an infinitive: elle s'est fait mal keeps fait invariable too, for the same underlying reason.
Faire Causative FAQs
- What is the faire causative in French?
- It is the structure faire plus an infinitive, used when the subject arranges an action instead of performing it. Je fais réparer ma voiture means I'm having my car repaired, and je fais travailler mes élèves means I make my pupils work. The same construction covers both English patterns.
- How do you say I had my hair cut in French?
- Je me suis fait couper les cheveux. The reflexive se faire shows the action was done to you, the body part takes a definite article rather than a possessive, and fait stays invariable even with a feminine subject: elle s'est fait couper les cheveux.
- Why doesn't fait agree in this construction?
- Because the direct object belongs to the infinitive, not to faire. In je les ai fait réparer, les is what gets repaired, so there is no preceding direct object of faire for the participle to agree with. Fait therefore stays flat in every causative sentence.
- When do you use à and when do you use par for the person doing the action?
- Use à by default: j'ai fait lire le texte à mes élèves. Switch to par when à could be misread as a recipient, which happens with verbs like écrire, envoyer, and donner: faire envoyer la lettre par sa secrétaire is unambiguous, while à sa secrétaire is not.
- What's the difference between faire faire and laisser faire?
- Faire faire means causing the action: il a fait travailler son fils, he made his son work. Laisser faire means permitting it: il a laissé travailler son fils, he let his son work. Laisser also allows the person to come before the infinitive, which faire never does.