फ़्रेंच चीटशीट

Verbs of perception and causative faire

voir entendre faire laisser + infinitiveB1

In one line

These verbs take an infinitive directly, with no preposition — and faire + infinitive means "to have something done", not to do it yourself.

The forms on this page

FormMeansSound
faireto do — but in this structure it means “to make someone do”/fɛʁ/

The table

VerbMeaningExample
voir /vwaʁ/to seeJe le vois partir. /ʒə lə vwa paʁ.tiʁ/
regarder /ʁə.ɡaʁ.de/to watchJe la regarde danser. /ʒə la ʁə.ɡaʁd dɑ̃.se/
entendre /ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ/to hearJe l'entends chanter. /ʒə lɑ̃.tɑ̃ ʃɑ̃.te/
écouter /e.ku.te/to listen toJe l'écoute parler. /ʒə le.kut paʁ.le/
sentir /sɑ̃.tiʁ/to feelJe le sens venir. /ʒə lə sɑ̃ və.niʁ/
faire /fɛʁ/to make somebody doJe le fais travailler. /ʒə lə fɛ tʁa.va.je/
laisser /lɛ.se/to letJe le laisse partir. /ʒə lə lɛs paʁ.tiʁ/
envoyer /ɑ̃.vwa.je/to sendJe l'envoie chercher du pain. /ʒə lɑ̃.vwa ʃɛʁ.ʃe dy pɛ̃/

None of them takes à or de. The infinitive follows directly.

English does the same thing with the same verbs, and it is one of the neatest matches between the two languages. "I saw him leave", "I heard her sing", "I made him work", "I let him go" — English uses the bare infinitive here and nowhere else. French does exactly the same. So the structure needs no learning; only the word order does.

faire + infinitive — the causative

It means you are not doing the action yourself; you are causing somebody else to:

MeaningPronunciation
Je répare ma voiture.I repair it myself/ʒə ʁe.paʁ ma vwa.tyʁ/
Je fais réparer ma voiture.I get it repaired/ʒə fɛ ʁe.pa.ʁe ma vwa.tyʁ/
Je coupe mes cheveux.I cut my own hair/ʒə kup me ʃə.vø/
Je me fais couper les cheveux.I get my hair cut/ʒə mə fɛ ku.pe le ʃə.vø/

Common phrases with this structure:

FrenchPronunciationMeaning
faire construire/fɛʁ kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ/to have built
faire venir/fɛʁ və.niʁ/to send for
faire entrer/fɛʁ ɑ̃.tʁe/to show in
faire savoir/fɛʁ sa.vwaʁ/to let somebody know
faire remarquer/fɛʁ ʁə.maʁ.ke/to point out
faire attendre/fɛʁ a.tɑ̃dʁ/to keep waiting
se faire couper les cheveux/sə fɛʁ ku.pe le ʃə.vø/to get one's hair cut
se faire opérer/sə fɛʁ o.pe.ʁe/to have an operation

English says this with "have" or "get" plus a past participle — "have it repaired", "get my hair cut". French uses faire plus an infinitive. The meaning matches; the shape does not.

laisser — allowing

Pronunciation
Laisse-moi parler.let me speak/lɛs mwa paʁ.le/
Il m'a laissé partir.he let me go/il ma lɛ.se paʁ.tiʁ/
Ne le laisse pas faire.don't let him/nə lə lɛs pa fɛʁ/

The difference from faire: faire compels, laisser does not prevent. Exactly English "make" versus "let".

Where the pronoun goes

The pronoun comes before the first verb, not before the infinitive:

❌✅
Je fais le travailler.Je le fais travailler.
J'entends la chanter.Je l'entends chanter.

This differs from the vouloir/pouvoir pattern, where the pronoun goes before the infinitive: Je veux le voir.

And it differs from English, which puts the object between the two verbs — "I make him work", "I hear her sing". French moves it in front of everything.

And with two objects:

Pronunciation
Je le lui fais lire.I get him to read it/ʒə lə lɥi fɛ liʁ/
Je la lui fais réparer.I get him to repair it/ʒə la lɥi fɛ ʁe.pa.ʁe/

In the causative, the person doing the action takes à:

Je fais lire le livre à Marie. — I get Marie to read the book

Past participle agreement

The rules get delicate here:

VerbAgreement
faire /fɛʁ/ + infinitivenever — Je les ai fait venir. /ʒə le.z‿e fɛ və.niʁ/
laisser /lɛ.se/ + infinitiveoptional — Je les ai laissé(s) partir. /ʒə le.z‿e lɛ.se paʁ.tiʁ/
voir /vwaʁ//entendre /ɑ̃.tɑ̃dʁ/ + infinitiveit depends

For voir and entendre, the agreement happens when the preceding object is the subject of the infinitive:

AgreementPronunciation
La fille que j'ai vue chanter.the girl sings → yes/la fij kə ʒe vy ʃɑ̃.te/
La chanson que j'ai entendu chanter.the song does not sing, it is sung → no/la ʃɑ̃.sɔ̃ kə ʒe ɑ̃.tɑ̃.dy ʃɑ̃.te/

fait never agrees — the simplest rule on this page, and one that comes up in exams.

Versus a relative clause

Two ways of saying the same thing:

With an infinitiveWith a relative
Je vois Marie partir. /ʒə vwa ma.ʁi paʁ.tiʁ/Je vois Marie qui part. /ʒə vwa ma.ʁi ki paʁ/
J'entends les enfants jouer. /ʒɑ̃.tɑ̃ le.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃ ʒwe/J'entends les enfants qui jouent. /ʒɑ̃.tɑ̃ le.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃ ki ʒu/

Both are correct. The relative form stresses that the action is in progress.

This is the French version of the English "I saw him leave" / "I saw him leaving" contrast — completed action versus action in progress.

Examples

EnglishFrenchPronunciation
I see him leaving.Je le vois partir./ʒə lə vwa paʁ.tiʁ/
I hear her singing.Je l'entends chanter./ʒə lɑ̃.tɑ̃ ʃɑ̃.te/
I had my car repaired.J'ai fait réparer ma voiture./ʒe fɛ ʁe.pa.ʁe ma vwa.tyʁ/
I got my hair cut.Je me suis fait couper les cheveux./ʒə mə sɥi fɛ ku.pe le ʃə.vø/
Let me speak.Laisse-moi parler./lɛs mwa paʁ.le/
I make him work.Je le fais travailler./ʒə lə fɛ tʁa.va.je/
He let me go.Il m'a laissé partir./il ma lɛ.se paʁ.tiʁ/
I sent for the doctor.J'ai fait venir le médecin./ʒe fɛ və.niʁ lə med.sɛ̃/
I hear the children playing.J'entends les enfants jouer./ʒɑ̃.tɑ̃ le.z‿ɑ̃.fɑ̃ ʒwe/
He let me know.Il me l'a fait savoir./il mə la fɛ sa.vwaʁ/

Common mistakes

❌✅Why
Je vois de partir.Je vois partir.No preposition
Je fais le travailler.Je le fais travailler.The pronoun goes before faire
Je les ai faits venir.Je les ai fait venir.fait never agrees
Je fais couper mes cheveux.Je me fais couper les cheveux.The reflexive form is needed
Laisse-moi de parler.Laisse-moi parler.Direct
J'ai eu ma voiture réparée.J'ai fait réparer ma voiture.French uses faire + infinitive, not "have" + participle

Causative faire — why it matters so much

because it is everywhere in ordinary life

In French, anything done for you is expressed with faire + infinitive:

EnglishFrenchPronunciation
I got my hair cutJe me suis fait couper les cheveux./ʒə mə sɥi fɛ ku.pe le ʃə.vø/
I had a tooth outJe me suis fait arracher une dent./ʒə mə sɥi fɛ.t‿a.ʁa.ʃe yn dɑ̃/
I had a house builtJ'ai fait construire ma maison./ʒe fɛ kɔ̃s.tʁɥiʁ ma mɛ.zɔ̃/
I had my car repairedJ'ai fait réparer ma voiture./ʒe fɛ ʁe.pa.ʁe ma vwa.tyʁ/

English marks this too, with "have" or "get" plus a past participle — "I had my car repaired", "I got my hair cut". So the concept is not new. What goes wrong is the shape.

Two specific failures to watch:

1. Using a plain verb. If you say J'ai coupé mes cheveux, you mean you took scissors to your own head — exactly as "I cut my hair" would be ambiguous in English but "I got my hair cut" is not.

2. Forgetting the reflexive. When the service is done to you, French needs se faire, not just faire — Je me fais couper les cheveux, with the reflexive pronoun. English hides this inside "my" — "I got my hair cut" — and there is no French equivalent of that possessive here.

This structure is essential for talking about everyday life — and in the speaking section of an exam, where you describe your routine, it comes up immediately.

The practical question:

Did I do it, or was it done for me?

Done for me → se faire + infinitive

And remember that fait never agrees in this structure:

Elle s'est fait couper les cheveux. — not faite

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