How are you feeling so far? A little lazy, perhaps? If only you could have someone do the studying for you, right? Some days, we all feel a bit tired and would rather have someone do things for us. Today,we will talk all about that and how to construct those kinds of sentences in French.
Le Causatif is used when the subject of the sentence is making someone else do the action instead of performing the action himself.
Here’s an example in English: Celine had her French homework done for her/ Celine made Pierre do her French homework for her.
See how lazy Celine is? See how the sentence was constructed?
It’s basically the same thing in French, except the verb faire is being used and, of course, it has to be conjugated to match the subject.
Listen to Track 76
– Je fais remplacer les lampes.
– I’m having the lamps replaced.
– Et vas-tu faire tondre la pelouse?
– And are you going to have the lawn mown?
– Oui, et je fais aussi élaguer les arbres.
– Yes, and I’m also having the trees pruned.
First, let’s take a look at what makes up a causative sentence.
A causative construction has the following:
❑ A subject that can be a person or even a thing
❑ The verb faire conjugated to match the subject
❑ The verb (about the action being performed) in its infinitive form
❑ At least one, or both, of these: (1) the receiver of the action being done (either a person or thing), and (2) the agent (a person or a thing) that was made to perform the action.
Taking into account these four elements, here are the three different types of causative constructions:
1. The receiver only: The subject is making something happen to the receiver.
❑ This type of causative constructed is formed using: Subject + faire + infinitive + receiver as the direct object.
Listen to Track 77
Je fais laver la voiture.
I’m having the car washed.
Il fait réparer la machine.
He’s having the machine repaired.
Vas-tu faire désherber le jardin?
Are you going to have the garden weeded?
Je fais ranger la maison.
I’m having the house cleaned.
Vas-tu faire soigner les chats?
Are you going to have the cats treated?
Il fait peindre les murs.
He’s having the walls painted.
2. The acting agent only: The agent is making the agent perform something.
❑ This type of causative constructed is formed using: Subject + faire + infinitive + the agent as the direct object.
Listen to Track 78
Je fais laver le sol par/à Antoine.
I’m having Antoine wash the floor.
Il fait sortir la voiture par/à son frère.
He’s having his brother get the car out.
Je fais laver la voiture par/à David.
I’m having David wash the car.
Il fait réparer la machine par/à sa sœur.
He’s having his sister fix the machine.
Listen to Track 80
– Vas-tu faire construire la maison ?
– Are you going to have the house built?
– Oui, et je fais aussi peindre les murs par Antoine.
– Yes, and I’m also having Antoine paint the walls.
– Les voisins font pleurer les enfants. Oh, pourquoi Julien court !
– Neighbors make the children cry. Oh, why Julien is running!
– Ne t’inquiète pas, je fais courir Julien, il doit garder la forme.
– Don’t worry, I’m making Julien run — he must keep fit