Reason for sentence construction with faire

Cathy B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Reason for sentence construction with faire

Asked 6 years ago
Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor Correct answer

Hi Cathy,

Sorry for the late reply, I must have missed your post somehow.

Faire is sometimes used in a reflexive construction such as:

Je me fais faire les ongles. -- I am having my nails done.
Ils se sont faits agrandir la salle. -- They had the living room enlarged.

In these reflexive constructions (se faire + infinitive) the role of the subject is always a more passive one. One is having something done rather than doing it onself. Another example:

Je m'aide moi-même. -- I help myself.
Je me fais aider. -- I let myself being helped.

-- Chris (not a native speaker).

Chris W.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Please post an example sentence for me to know what exactly you are asking.

-- Chris.

Cathy B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

I did, but it didn't show up, will try again.  Nonetheless, thanks for your prompt response.

Cathy B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

In the following example, I am having difficulty understanding why the reflexive is used: 

Où ta mère et toi vous faites-vous les ongles? 

Is it because of using the stress pronoun at the beginning of the sentence? 

Thanks again.

Cathy B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor
Thanks so much Chris! I really appreciate your contribution to the many discussions on this forum.

Reason for sentence construction with faire

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