Causative constructions: making, letting and having someone do something

1. One shape, four verbs

English needs three different structures to talk about causing things: you make someone do it, you let someone do it, you have something done. Portuguese does all of it with one pattern — causative verb + infinitive, with nothing at all in between. No que, no para, no preposition: the two verbs simply sit side by side.

• fazer + infinitive — cause it, make it happen: O barulho fez o bebê acordar. (The noise made the baby wake up.)

• mandar + infinitive — order it, or have it done: Mandei consertar o carro. (I had the car fixed.)

• deixar + infinitive — let it, allow it: Meus pais não me deixam sair durante a semana. (My parents do not let me go out during the week.)

• ver, ouvir, sentir + infinitive — witness it: Ouvi você chegar. (I heard you arrive.)

The person who actually performs the second verb is the object of the first one. That is the whole grammar of it; the rest of this point is about which verb, which pronoun, and when a full clause serves you better.

2. fazer: make it happen

Examples in Context

Common Pitfalls

• Slipping a que or a para between the two verbs. ❌ Ele fez para eu chorar. → ✅ Ele me fez chorar. (He made me cry.) The only version with que is the subjunctive one: Fez com que eu chorasse.

• Translating 'have something done' with ter. ❌ Vou ter meu cabelo cortado. → ✅ Vou cortar o cabelo. (I am going to get my hair cut.) Brazilians simply use the plain verb, or mandar when they want to stress that someone else did it: Mandei cortar o cabelo bem curto. (I had my hair cut very short.)

• Using Deixe-me in casual speech. It is correct, but it sounds like a period drama. ✅ Deixa eu ver esse cardápio. (Let me see that menu.) Save Deixe-me for writing.

• Confusing Vi que ela saiu with Vi ela sair. ✅ Vi ela sair. (I watched her leave.) ✅ Vi que ela saiu. (I realised she had left.) Only the first one means you were actually there.

• Forgetting the subjunctive after fazer com que. ❌ Fez com que ele entendeu. → ✅ Fez com que ele entendesse. (He made him understand.)

• Attaching the pronoun to the infinitive. ❌ Fez chorar-me. → ✅ Me fez chorar. (He made me cry.) In Brazilian Portuguese the pronoun goes in front of the causative verb, not after the second verb.