I see in an exercise that "I'm having new sandals made." is translated as "Je me fais faire de nouvelles sandales." I don't understand why the "me" is necessary in this case. I can see why for verbs like brosser, couper, raser, doucher, and so on. But not in this case. What am I missing?
Faire (to do, make) is an irregular French verb.
When followed by an infinitive, faire means "to have something done."
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Lessons with more detail on Faire (to do, make)
- Conjugate faire - je/tu/vous forms - in the present tense in French (Le Présent)
- Conjugate faire in the present tense in French (Le Présent)
- Conjugate faire in the future tense in French (Le Futur Simple)
- Conjugate faire in the conditional present in French (Le Conditionnel Présent)
- Conjugate faire (+ avoir) in the compound past in French (Le Passé Composé)
- Conjugate faire in the subjunctive present in French (Le Subjonctif Présent)
- Conjugate être/avoir/faire/prendre/vouloir (+ avoir) in the pluperfect tense in French (Le Plus-que-Parfait)
- Conjugate avoir/être/faire and other irregular verbs in the future perfect in French (Le Futur Antérieur)
- Recognising faire in the historic past in French (Le Passé Simple)
- Conjugate faire in the historic past in French (Le Passé Simple)
- Faire + [infinitive] = to have something done in French (Causative)
- Faire confiance (Ã ) = To trust (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire de/jouer à : talking about sports, hobbies and leisure activities in French
- Faire exprès (de) = To do something on purpose (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire la queue = To queue/To be in line/To stand in line (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire les courses vs Faire les magasins to talk about shopping (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire mal à vs Faire du mal à = to hurt someone (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire partie de = To be part of (French Expressions with faire)
- Faire peur (Ã ) = To scare someone (French Expressions with faire)
Q&A Forum 2 questions, 7 answers
Andrew O.Kwiziq community member
se faire
Asked 5 months ago
Andrew,
As I understand it, if you made them for yourself it would be ‘ Je me fais de nouvelle sandales ‘.Â
Without the ‘ me ‘ the sandals could be for anyone or anything. English often leaves out the ‘ for me ‘, French doesn’t ( informal casual speech where context is clear, an exception sometimes  ).
Adding the causative ‘ faire ‘ to indicate ‘having (someone else) make them for me’ gives ‘ Je me fais faire de nouvelles sandales ‘, as per the examples in the lesson.
 Faire + [infinitive] = to have something done in French (Causative)
Jim J. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Bonjour Andrew,
I agree that using an indirect object pronoun (me) should not be necessary -- Perhaps to reinforce who the sandals were for.
https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/faire-reflexive-causative/
Bonne journée
Jim
Andrew O.Kwiziq community member
Thanks. The faire-reflexive-causitive link explained it best. J'ai apprécié votre aide.
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Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
When is ´ça fais’ or ´ça fait’ used? Does it refer to a time factor such as ´I’ve been waiting for five minutes’?
Asked 6 years ago
Hi Coleen,
The following sentence:Â
Ça fait cinq minutes que j'attends = I have been waiting for five minutes
is correct .
However 'fait' is always with a 't' in " ça fait, as 'ça'(contraction of 'cela') is an indefinite pronoun like 'it' and is always in the third person singular.
Please beware of "popular translation sites" as they are often wrong....Â
Chris W. Kwiziq Q&A super contributor
Hi Colleen,
"Fais" is the conjugation of "faire" for the 1st and 2nd persons singular: "je fais" or "tu fais".
"Fait" is the 3rd person singular: "il/elle/on fait".
If "ça" is the subject of the sentence, then you need 3rd person singular, hence "fait".
Tu fais ça. -- You are doing this.
Je fais ça. -- I am doing this.
Ça me fait mal ! -- That is hurting me!
-- Chris
Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thank you Chris for your helpful reply and these are phrases that I will incorporate into my conversations.Â
I do have a dilemma, however. I encountered, on a very popular traduction site, the term 'ca fais' used when referring to a sense of time passing. For example: 'Ca fais tres longtemps.' = 'It's been a very long time'. My French friends tell me that this usage is wrong.Â
Can you please clarify? Many thanks...Colleen
Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thank you very much, Cecile. This has really clarified things for me. I now realise that I may have misunderstood my French friends and that, like you, they were actually speaking of the 's' itself being wrong and not the phrase itself.Â
I am so pleased to continue using one of now favourite phrases - with a 't' !
I hope one day there will be a truly reliable translation site. So very necessary...
Many thanks,
Colleen (in Southwest France)
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