Far fare

Far fare

(A Special Infinitive Construction)

Far fare, "to make to do" something, is used when the subject of the action has another person perform the action for him or her. For example, you have a hairdresser cut your hair for you or a mechanic fix the car for you.

Faccio tagliare i capelli alla parucchiera.
Faccio riparare la macchina al meccanico.

Since fare is a transitive verb and since there is always something (object, part of body) you have done for you, this construction will always have a direct object. In the above examples, i capelli (the hair) and la macchina (the car) are the direct objects. The person who did the action for you is shown in indirect object form (alla parucchiera, al meccanico). This person need not necessarily be mentioned.

Contrast:
Faccio riparare la macchina. = I have the car repaired.
Faccio ripararla al meccanico. = I have it repaired by the mechanic.

Source: The Italian Program at the University of Kentucky