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The verb fare can be followed by
an infinitive to express the idea of having someone
do something or having something done. If the
object is a noun, it follows the infinitive; but if
the object is a pronoun, it precedes the verb fare.
(Unless the object pronoun is loro, then
it always follows the infinitive.) Note that
farsi can also be used in a causative construction
when one is having something done to oneself.
Abbiamo fatto fare quelle sedia. We
had that chair made.
Faccio studiare i ragazzi. I make the
boys study.
Li faccio studiare. I make them study.
Mi faccio tagliare i capelli. I'm having
my hair cut.
When a causative sentence has two objects,
the person being made to do something becomes the
indirect object. In Italian, the indirect object
is introduced by a.
Il maestro fa leggere lo studente.
The teacher makes the student read.
Il maestro fa leggere la lettura allo studente.
The teacher makes the student read the passage.
To avoid ambiguity with the indirect object,
the preposition da instead of a can
be used. The sentence Abbiamo fatto mandare
il pacco a Maria can mean two things: 1)
We had Mary send the package or 2) We had the package
sent to Mary. If the first meaning is intended,
then da can replace a. |