faire + infinitive To Make or Have Someone Do Something
rendre + adjective To Make Someone or Something Feel or Be Something
Examples: Le patron a fait travailler ses enfants = The boss made (had) his children work. Le patron a rendu ses enfants tristes = The boss made his children sad.
I. Faire + Infinitive (to make someone do something): to make (have, let) someone else do something to make (have) something be done by someone else
Examples: Il nous a fait partir.= He made us leave. L'agent lui fera prendre une autre rue.= The policeman will make him take another street. Elles feront peindre la maison. = They will have the house painted. Jean nous a fait entrer. = John let us in.
A. 1. Pronouns, signs of negation, and adverbs are placed around the verb "faire" not around the infinitive. Example: Le chien ne la faisait pas souvent pleurer. = The dog did not often make her cry.
2. No nouns or pronouns are placed between "faire" and the infinitive. Tu ferais partir Pierre? = You would make Peter leave?
B. The past participle of "faire" does not agree with preceding direct objects. Example: Elles les a fait rire. Tu nous avais fait chanter.
C. The direct object can function either as the subject or the object of the infinitive signifying the action. If a noun functions as the subject of the infinitive, it always goes after the infinitive, never before as in English. Example: 1. Tu as fait nager l'enfant. = You made (had) the child swim. 2. Tu l'as fait nager. = You made (had) him swim. 3. Tu as fait laver la voiture.= You had the car washed. 4. L'as-tu fait laver.= Did you have it washed?
Exercises: Click for vocabulary help 1. They made the poor woman scream.
2. They had the car washed. 3. You would have it (the car) washed.
D. If there is both a subject and a direct object of the infinitive, the noun subject is preceded by the preposition "à" and the pronoun subject takes the form of an indirect object pronoun: Examples: 1. Elle avait fait prendre le train à son frère.= She had made her brother take the train. 2. Elle le lui avait fait prendre.= She had made him take it.
E. If the infinitive is normally followed by the preposition "à" + noun, there can result an ambiguity between the object of that preposition and the subject of the infinitive. In that case, the subject of the infinitive is preceded by "par" rather than "à."
Examples: Je ferai donner le livre par Jean à Pierre. = I will have John give the book to Peter.
Exercises for D and E: Click for vocabulary help 4. We will haveSylvia watch the house (We will have the house watched by Sylvia).
5. We will have her watch it (We will have it watched by her).
6. You would not have me say the truth to the police.
II a.Laisser + infinitive: to let someone else do something b. Verb of perception (voir, regarder, écouter) + infinitive
A. Like the past participle of "faire," the past participles of "laisser" or a verb of perception followed by an infinitive generally do not agree with a preceding direct object. Example: Je les ai laissé chanter. Je les ai entendu chanter.
B. If the infinitive only has a direct object, follow the rules for "faire "+ infinitive: Examples: J'ai laissé chanter les chansons. Je les ai entendu chanter.
C. If the infinitive has a subject, this subject can be placed before the infinitive or after it. Examples: Nous avons laissé Jean manger. (not possible with "faire") Nous avons laissé manger Jean. (like "faire")
D. If the infinitive has both a subject and a direct object, the subject must be placed before and the direct object must be placed after the infinitive (unlike "faire"). Examples: On a vu Jean manger la pomme. (vs. On a fait manger la pomme à Jean)
E. Object pronouns can be placed before "laisser" or the verb of perception (as with "faire") or each pronoun can be placed with the verb it modifies (which is not possible with "faire") Examples: Ils me l'ont vu regarder. Ils m'ont laissé la regarder.
7. We will let Paul stop the car.
8. We will let him stop it.
III Rendre + adjective (to make someone or something be something):
"Rendre" followed by an adjective also means "to make."
Examples: 1. Nous les rendons tristes. = We make them unhappy. 2. Tu rendras le travail difficile. = You will make the work difficult.
Exercises: 9. My family makes me happy.
10. The dinner made them sick.
Review Exercises: Click for vocabulary help 11. We let the children play.
12. Paul will have his house painted.
13. Why did you make Jeanine write the letter?
14. What made the day intolerable?
15. Why did you make Mary write the letter to her aunt?
16. What caused (made) the computer to erase it (the answer)?
17. We are making her paint it (the cow).
18. She is making the cow uncomfortable.
19. We saw John kiss his girlfriend.
Vocabulary: to scream=crier to stop by someone's house=passer chez X to watch=surveiller truth=la vérité to paint=peindre computer=un ordinateur cow=la vache erase=effacer the day=la journée ("day" conceived as a duration rather than as a whole ("jour"))
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