Reflexive Verbs in Causative Constructions
The reflexive verb farsi can be used in causative constructions when the subject of the sentence is having something done or made to or for himself or herself. When farsi is used in a causative construction, the following word order is used:
farsi + infinitive of verb + noun object + da (someone)
Ti fai tagliare i capelli dal barbiere. |
You are having your hair cut by the barber. |
Mio zio si fa costruire una nuova casa al mare. |
My uncle is having a new house built (for himself) at the beach. |
Le signore si faranno fare tre gonne. |
The women are having three skirts made for themselves. |
With farsi, the direct object pronoun always follows the reflexive pronoun, and the spelling rules of the double object pronouns apply.
Te li fai tagliare dal barbiere. |
You are having them cut by the barber. |
Mio zio se la fa costruire al mare. |
My uncle is having it built at the beach. |
Le signore se ne faranno fare tre. |
The women are having three of them made for themselves. |
Farsi is also used to express the idea of making or getting oneself something. For example, “I made myself understood” or “You get yourself invited to the party.”
Mi faccio capire? |
Am I making myself understood? |
Perché non ti fai sentire ogni tanto? |
Why don't you get in touch (literally, make yourself heard) every now and then? |
In Italian the verb costruire means “to build.” The verb far costruire means to have something built. Unless you're a general contractor, the latter will probably be more useful!
When the reflexive verb farsi is used in a compound tense (passato prossimo, past conditional, futuro anteriore, for example), the auxiliary verb essere is used.
Table 14-8
Simple Tense |
Compound Tense |
Mi faccio tagliare i capelli dal barbiere. |
Mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli dal barbiere. |
Mio zio si farà costruire una nuova casa al mare. |
Mio zio si sarà fatto costruire una nuova casa al mare. |
Le signore si farebbero fare tre nuove gonne. |
Le signore si sarebbero fatte fare tre nuove gonne. |
We've seen that the reflexive verb farsi can be used to express the idea of having something done for oneself by someone else. But what happens when the infinitive verb that follows the conjugated form of the verb fare is also reflexive? In cases where the infinitive is reflexive, the reflexive pronoun is omitted. Have a look at the following examples:
Table 14-9
Non-Causative Construction |
Causative Construction |
I bambini si svegliano presto. |
Faccio svegliare i bambini presto. (NOT Faccio svegliarsi i bambini presto.) |
Carlo si arrabbia facilmente. |
Faccio arrabbiare Carlo facilmente. (NOT Faccio arrabbiarsi Carlo facilmente.) |
