How to Teach the French Causative FAIRE Construction – A French Teacher’s Guide

The French causative construction with faire allows us to express the idea of having something done or making someone do something. We use it when we cause an action to happen, whether we perform the action ourselves or have someone else do it.

I teach this construction in small steps because students need to understand more than just the formula faire + infinitive. They also need to know how to replace people and things with pronouns, where those pronouns go, and how to use se faire.

French Causative Faire – Grammar Bookmark Study Notes

French Causative Faire Lesson, Video, Audio – French Grammar Activity

Looking for more resources to help you teach the French Causative FAIRE Construction? Scroll down to the section at the end of this post to see my ready-to-use resources for this topic.

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Start with the basic structure: FAIRE + INFINITIVE

I begin by explaining that we use faire followed by an infinitive when we want to say that someone is making something happen or having someone do something.

Compare these English sentences:

I am making my kids read.
I am having the kids eat.
You are making my dog bark.
I am having my dog go outside.

In each sentence, the subject is causing an action to happen. The subject isn’t necessarily doing the action personally.

Here is how we express these ideas in French:

I am making my kids read. → Je fais lire mes enfants.
I am having the kids eat. → Je fais manger les enfants.
You are making my dog bark. → Tu fais aboyer mon chien.
I am having my dog go outside. → Je fais sortir mon chien.

The basic pattern is:

FAIRE + INFINITIVE + THE PERSON OR THING INVOLVED

For now, I have students focus on recognizing faire followed by another verb in the infinitive. We can work on pronouns once they understand the basic construction.

Replace the person or thing with a direct object pronoun

Next, I show students how to avoid repeating the person or thing after the infinitive.

In the sentence Je fais lire mes enfants, the words mes enfants tell us who is being made to read. We can replace mes enfants with the direct object pronoun les.

Je fais lire mes enfants. → I am making my kids read.
Je les fais lire. → I am making them read.

Notice where les goes. It comes before the conjugated form of faire, not after the infinitive.

Here are more examples:

Je fais manger les enfants. → Je les fais manger.
Tu fais aboyer mon chien. → Tu le fais aboyer.
Je fais sortir ma chienne. → Je la fais sortir.

The direct object pronouns used in these examples are:

le = him or it, masculine singular
la = her or it, feminine singular
les = them, plural

I point out that the person or thing is not preceded by a preposition such as à, pour, or par in these examples. That is the clue for identifying the direct object and choosing the appropriate pronoun.

Put the construction in the passé composé

Once students understand the present-tense examples, I move to the passé composé.

The construction follows the same basic idea, but now faire is conjugated in the passé composé using avoir:

Je fais manger les enfants. → J’ai fait manger les enfants.
Je fais rénover ma cuisine. → J’ai fait rénover ma cuisine.
Je fais nettoyer nos fenêtres. → J’ai fait nettoyer nos fenêtres.

When we replace the direct object with a pronoun, it goes before the helping verb avoir:

Je fais manger les enfants. → Je les fais manger.
J’ai fait manger les enfants. → Je les ai fait manger.

I make sure students notice that the pronoun moves in front of the helping verb in the passé composé.

Negation follows the same placement rule:

Je les ai fait nettoyer. → I had them cleaned.
Je ne les ai pas fait nettoyer. → I didn’t have them cleaned.

The pronoun stays directly before ai, even when the sentence is negative.

One more point worth emphasizing: in this causative construction, the past participle fait remains unchanged. For example, we write Je les ai fait nettoyer, not Je les ai faits nettoyer.

Use LUI and LEUR when a person performs the action

The next step is to show students that not every person mentioned in a causative sentence is a direct object.

Sometimes, the sentence tells us who is actually performing the action. These examples use a person introduced by par or à.

For example:

I am having my sister unload the dishwasher.
I am having the kids eat their dinner.
We are making Charlotte clean Billy’s cage.
I am having my friend reserve a table.

Here are the French translations:

Je fais vider le lave-vaisselle par ma sœur.
Je fais manger leur dîner aux enfants.
Nous faisons nettoyer la cage de Billy par Charlotte.
Je fais réserver une table par mon ami.

When we replace the person performing the action with a pronoun, we use an indirect object pronoun:

par ma sœur → lui
aux enfants → leur
par Charlotte → lui
par mon ami → lui

For example:

Je fais vider le lave-vaisselle par ma sœur. → Je lui fais vider le lave-vaisselle.
Je fais manger leur dîner aux enfants. → Je leur fais manger leur dîner.
Nous faisons nettoyer la cage de Billy par Charlotte. → Nous lui faisons nettoyer la cage de Billy.

The pronouns lui and leur come before the conjugated form of faire.

I teach students to distinguish between the two types of pronouns by asking them to identify what is being replaced. Are they replacing the person or thing involved in the action, as in Je les fais manger? Or are they replacing the person who performs the action, as in Je lui fais vider le lave-vaisselle?

Apply the same pronoun placement in the passé composé

The placement rule doesn’t change when we use the passé composé. The indirect object pronoun goes before the helping verb.

Je fais vider le lave-vaisselle par ma sœur. → Je lui fais vider le lave-vaisselle.
J’ai fait vider le lave-vaisselle par ma sœur. → Je lui ai fait vider le lave-vaisselle.

And with a plural person or group:

Je fais manger leur dîner aux enfants. → Je leur fais manger leur dîner.
J’ai fait manger leur dîner aux enfants. → Je leur ai fait manger leur dîner.

I have students compare the present tense and the passé composé side by side. They can see that the pronoun stays in front of the conjugated verb in both tenses.

Understand FAIRE FAIRE: having something made or having someone do something

The next part of the lesson introduces two constructions that look similar but communicate slightly different ideas.

First, we can use faire faire to talk about having something made or arranged by someone else.

For example:

I am having a dress made. → Je fais faire une robe.
Are you having a photocopy made? → Tu fais faire une photocopie ?
We are having some pizzas made. → Nous faisons faire des pizzas.
They are having the invitations made. → Ils font faire les invitations.

Here, the first form of faire is conjugated, and the second faire remains in the infinitive.

When we replace the thing being made with a pronoun, we use en in these quantity-related examples:

Je fais faire une robe. → J’en fais faire une.
Tu fais faire une photocopie ? → Tu en fais faire une ?
Nous faisons faire des pizzas. → Nous en faisons faire.
Ils font faire les invitations. → Ils en font faire.

I ask students to look at the whole expression rather than trying to translate each word individually. The construction is used to express that someone is having something made by someone else.

Use FAIRE + INFINITIVE to have someone do something

We can also use faire + infinitive when we arrange for another person to perform an action.

For example:

I am having François make the coffee. → Je fais faire le café par François.
Are you having your son take attendance? → Tu fais faire l’appel par ton fils ?
We are having our daughter do the shopping. → Nous faisons faire les courses par notre fille.
They are having the children make breakfast. → Ils font faire le petit-déjeuner aux enfants.

If we replace the person performing the action with a pronoun, we use lui or leur:

Je fais faire le café par François. → Je lui fais faire le café.
Tu fais faire l’appel par ton fils ? → Tu lui fais faire l’appel ?
Nous faisons faire les courses par notre fille. → Nous lui faisons faire les courses.
Ils font faire le petit-déjeuner aux enfants. → Ils leur font faire le petit-déjeuner.

This brings us back to the distinction between direct and indirect object pronouns. The pronoun depends on what we are replacing, not simply on the fact that the sentence contains faire.

Introduce SE FAIRE + INFINITIVE

The final part of the lesson focuses on se faire + infinitive. I explain that this is a reflexive construction used when the subject is the person receiving or experiencing the action.

There are two useful groups of examples to teach separately.

Having something done for yourself

We often use se faire + infinitive when we arrange for someone else to do something for us.

For example:

I am having my nails done. → Je me fais faire les ongles.
Are you having a cake made for yourself? → Tu te fais faire un gâteau ?
We are having a bouquet of flowers made for ourselves. → Nous nous faisons faire un bouquet de fleurs.
They are having their new suits made. → Ils se font faire leurs nouveaux costumes.

The reflexive pronoun changes according to the subject:

je → me
tu → te
nous → nous
ils/elles → se

In these examples, the subject is arranging for someone else to do something for them.

Other everyday examples include:

Elle se fait livrer ses courses à domicile. — She has her groceries delivered to her home.
Elle se fait maquiller. — She is having her makeup done.
Quelqu’un se fait opérer. — Someone is having surgery.

These examples help students connect the construction to familiar everyday situations.

Being the receiver of an action

We can also use se faire + infinitive when something happens to the subject. The subject is the receiver of the action, which may be something they arrange or something that happens to them.

For example:

I am often woken up in the middle of the night. → Je me fais souvent réveiller au milieu de la nuit.
Are you getting a haircut today? → Tu te fais couper les cheveux aujourd’hui ?
We are being helped. → Nous nous faisons aider.
They are getting fired by their boss. → Ils se font virer par leur patron.

Other examples include:

Je me suis fait griffer par mon chat ! — I got scratched by my cat!
Il se fait pousser la barbe. — He is growing a beard.
Il se fait rembourser. — He is getting reimbursed.

I point out that se faire is reflexive, so the reflexive pronoun changes with the subject. In the passé composé, the construction uses être:

Je me fais réveiller. → Je me suis fait réveiller.
Tu te fais couper les cheveux. → Tu t’es fait couper les cheveux.
Ils se font virer. → Ils se sont fait virer.

As in the other causative examples, fait remains unchanged.

SE FAIRE – French Causative Faire – French Grammar Activity

How I review the French causative construction

Because there are several patterns to learn, I don’t expect students to master everything at once. I have them work through the construction in stages.

First, they identify faire + infinitive and explain what action is being caused. Next, they replace the person or thing with a pronoun. Then they practice moving the pronoun into the correct position in the passé composé. Finally, they work with lui and leur, followed by the reflexive construction se faire + infinitive.

When students make mistakes, I bring them back to one question: What exactly is the pronoun replacing? Once they can answer that, choosing the pronoun and placing it correctly becomes much easier.

Ready to Practice the French Causative FAIRE Construction?

If you’re teaching the French causative construction, I’ve listed my French causative faire resources to help you teach this construction and give your students opportunities to practice.

French Causative Faire Lesson, Video, Audio – French Grammar Activity

SE FAIRE – French Causative Faire – French Grammar Activity

French Faire Causatif – Causative Faire – Worksheet Exercise or Quiz

French Faire Causatif – Causative Faire Google Forms Quiz or Exercise Worksheet

French Reading Comprehension Quiz – Causative Faire + Infinitive

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