Costruzioni con infinito
FARE + infinito
Fare followed by the infinitive is used when the subject causes an action to be carried out by someone else. The English equivalent of this causative construction is to make/have/get + verb.
Key Points
- Word order: the noun object of the conjugated form of fare (“gli studenti” in the following example) follows the Infinitive; the direct object pronoun (“li”) precedes the conjugated form of fare.
La professoressa fa studiare gli studenti. The professor makes the students study. La professoressa li fa studiare. The professor makes them study.
- Word order: pronouns are attached to fare in the infinitive, gerund, past participle, and in the TU/VOI/NOI forms of the imperative.
La professoressa vuole farli studiare. The professor wants to make them study. Facciamoli studiare! Let’s make them study!
- One vs. two objects: if there is only one object in this construction, it is a direct object. If there are two objects, one is direct (the object towards which the action is directed) and the other is indirect (the person who is being made to carry out the action on the direct object).
Faccio tradurre gli studenti. → Li faccio tradurre. I make the students translate. → I make them translate. Faccio tradurre il libro. → Lo faccio tradurre. I have the book translated. → I have it translated. Faccio tradurre il libro agli studenti.* → Gli faccio tradurre il libro.* I have the students translate the book. → I have them translate the book. Gli faccio tradurre la lettera.* → Gliela faccio tradurre.* I have them translate the letter. → I have them translate it.
*NOTE: you cannot use two direct objects in the same construction.
- Agreement: when the passato prossimo of fare is used with a direct object pronoun, the ending of the past participle (fatto/a/i/e) agrees with the direct object pronoun.
Gli ho fatto tradurre la lettera. → Gliela (gliel’) ho fatta* tradurre. I had them translate the letter. → I had them translate it.
- Fare + reflexive verbs: if the infinitive following fare is reflexive (e.g., arrabbiarsi = to get mad/angry), the reflexive pronoun is omitted.
La professoressa non voleva arrabbiarsi, ma l’hanno fatta arrabbiare. The professor didn’t want to get mad, but they made her (get) mad.
- Farsi + infinito is used to express having something done to or for oneself (often, but not exclusively, referring to parts of the body or clothing); DA + person is used when expressing the person (or business) that is made to perform the action:
Sara si è fatta* tagliare i capelli. Se li è fatti** tagliare da una brava parrucchiera. Sara had her hair cut. She had it cut by a good hairdresser. (Io) Mi sono fatto* aggiustare la macchina. Me la sono fatta** aggiustare dal meccanico I (masculine) had my car fixed. I had it fixed by the mechanic.
NOTE:
* in compound tenses (e.g., passato prossimo), use essere; if there is no direct object pronoun, the ending of the past participle agrees with the subject (e.g., Sara…fatta; io…fatto)
** if there is a direct object pronoun, the ending of the past participle agrees with the direct object (e.g., li … fatti, la…fatta).
LASCIARE + infinito / PERMETTERE DI + infinito
Lasciare followed by the infinitive is used when the subject allows (or doesn’t allow) something to happen or lets (doesn’t let) someone do something. The English equivalent of this construction is to let/allow/permit + verb. The rules that apply to fare + infinitive also apply to lasciare + infinitive.
Key Points
- Word order: the noun object of the conjugated form of lasciare follows the infinitive; the direct object pronoun precedes the conjugated form of lasciare.
La professoressa non lascia dormire gli studenti. The professor doesn’t let the students sleep. La professoressa non li lascia dormire. The professor doesn’t let them sleep.
- Word order: pronouns are attached to lasciare in the infinitive, gerund, past participle, and in the TU/NOI/VOI forms of the imperative.
La professoressa non vuole lasciarli dormire. The professor doesn’t want to let them sleep. Lasciali dormire! Let them sleep!
- One vs. two objects: if there is only one object in this construction, it is a direct object. If there are two objects, one is direct and the other is indirect.
La mamma lascia mangiare Marco. → Lo lascia mangiare. Mom lets Marco eat. → She lets him eat. La mamma lascia mangiare il gelato a Marco.* → Gli lascia mangiare il gelato.* Mom lets Marco eat ice cream. → She lets him eat ice cream.
- Agreement: when the passato prossimo of lasciare is used with a direct object pronoun, the ending of the past participle (lasciato/a/i/e) agrees with the direct object pronoun.
Gli ha lasciato mangiare le paste. → Gliele ha lasciate* mangiare. She let him eat the pastries. → She let him eat them.
- Lasciare + reflexive verbs: if the infinitive following lasciare is reflexive (e.g., riposarsi = to rest), the reflexive pronoun is omitted.
I bambini devono riposarsi: lasciali riposare! The kids must get some rest: let them rest!
PERMETTERE DI + indirect object + infinitive
Permettere di + infinitive is the equivalent of lasciare + infinitive, with one important difference in the construction of the sentence: if there is only one object, it is an indirect object. The word order is: permettere di + indirect object + infinitive. Compare the following examples:
| LASCIARE | PERMETTERE DI |
Lasci uscire lo studente? Are you letting the student leave? |
Permetti allo studente di uscire? Are you allowing the student to leave? |
Non lasciarlo uscire! Don’t let him leave! |
Non permettergli di uscire! Don’t allow him to leave! |
Ho lasciato cantare una canzone agli studenti. I let the students sing a song. |
Ho permesso agli studenti di cantare una canzone. I allowed the students to sing a song. |
NOTE: lasciare and permettere di can also be used with che + congiuntivo
Lasci che lo studente esca? Are you letting the student leave? Permetti che lo studente esca? Are you allowing the student to leave?
Verbi di percezione (VEDERE, SENTIRE, etc.) + infinito
Verbs of perception in Italian are often followed by the infinitive of another verb. The most common verbs of perception are:
SENTIRE = to hear / to feel / to smell
UDIRE = to hear
ASCOLTARE = to listen to
VEDERE = to see
GUARDARE = to watch
OSSERVARE = to observe
Key Points
- Word order: Noun objects MAY follow the conjugated form of the verb of perception OR, as in the construction with fare, follow infinitive.
Sento gli studenti cantare. I hear the students sing. Sento cantare gli studenti. I hear the students sing.
- Word order: Pronoun objects precede the conjugated form of the verb of perception but follow, and are attached to, the verb of perception when it is in the infinitive, gerund, past participle or the TU/NOI/VOI imperative forms.
Li abbiamo ascoltati cantare. We listened to them sing. Ci piace ascoltarli cantare. We like to listen to them sing.
- When the infinitive following the verb of perception has an object of its own, the construction has two direct objects (unlike the previous constructions). The object of the verb of perception is placed before the verb and the infinitive and the object of the infinitive follows it.
Ho visto Laura mangiare. I saw Laura eat. Ho visto Laura mangiare gli gnocchi. I saw Laura eat gnocchi.
NOTE: the position of pronouns when there are two direct objects:
L’ho vista mangiare gli gnocchi
Ho visto Laura mangiarli
L’ho vista mangiarli
- Verbs of perception may also be followed by che + indicative or mentre + indicative. As the following sentences shows, the same meaning (e.g., “She watched the students take the exam”) can be expressed in three different ways:
Ha guardato gli studenti fare l’esame.
Ha guardato gli studenti che facevano l’esame.
Ha guardato gli student mentre facevano l’esame.
