Causative Lasciare in Italian

Overview

The lasciare causativo (causative lasciare) uses lasciare + infinitive to express allowing, letting, or permitting someone to do something. While causative fare means "to make/have someone do something," causative lasciare means "to let/allow someone to do something." The distinction is between causing an action and permitting one.

This construction appears constantly in everyday Italian — from parenting ("Lasciami giocare!") to professional contexts ("Il direttore ci ha lasciato uscire prima") to emotional expressions ("Lascialo stare" — Leave him alone). It follows the same structural patterns as causative fare regarding word order and pronoun placement, making it relatively straightforward to learn if you have already mastered fare + infinitive.

Understanding when to use lasciare instead of fare is a key step in expressing nuanced interpersonal dynamics in Italian — the difference between compelling and permitting, between authority and freedom.

How It Works

Basic Structure

Lasciare + infinitive

Italian	English	Pattern
Lascia entrare il gatto.	Let the cat in.	lasciare + inf. + subject of inf.
Lasciami parlare.	Let me speak.	lasciare + pronoun + inf.
Lascio scegliere il ristorante a Maria.	I let Maria choose the restaurant.	lasciare + inf. + object + a + person

Fare vs Lasciare

Fare (causation)	Lasciare (permission)
Faccio mangiare i bambini. (I make the children eat.)	Lascio mangiare i bambini. (I let the children eat.)
Ho fatto entrare il cane. (I made the dog come in.)	Ho lasciato entrare il cane. (I let the dog come in.)
Mi fa lavorare fino a tardi. (He makes me work late.)	Mi lascia andare via presto. (He lets me leave early.)

Pronoun Placement

Like causative fare, pronouns precede the conjugated form of lasciare:

With noun	With pronoun
Lascio uscire i bambini.	Li lascio uscire.
Lascio scegliere il film a Maria.	Le lascio scegliere il film. / Glielo lascio scegliere.

With imperatives and infinitives, pronouns attach to the end:

Example	Context
Lascialo stare!	Leave him alone! (imperative)
Lasciami finire!	Let me finish! (imperative)
Devi lasciarli giocare.	You must let them play. (infinitive after modal)

Compound Tenses

Like causative fare, the auxiliary is avere:

Simple	Compound
Lascio entrare il gatto.	Ho lasciato entrare il gatto.
Li lascio giocare.	Li ho lasciati giocare.

Examples in Context

Italian	English	Note
Lasciami pensare un momento.	Let me think for a moment.	Common request
Non mi lasciano uscire la sera.	They don't let me go out at night.	Restriction/permission
Il professore ci ha lasciato andare via prima.	The teacher let us leave early.	Past permission
Lascia perdere!	Forget about it! / Drop it!	Very common idiomatic expression
Ho lasciato parlare lei per prima.	I let her speak first.	Showing courtesy
Non lasciarti scoraggiare!	Don't let yourself get discouraged!	Reflexive + causative
Lascialo stare, non vuole essere disturbato.	Leave him alone, he doesn't want to be disturbed.	Idiomatic
I genitori li lasciano guardare la TV dopo cena.	The parents let them watch TV after dinner.	Pronoun before lasciare
Mi ha lasciato scegliere il regalo.	She let me choose the gift.	Past, indirect permission
Lasciate che i bambini giochino!	Let the children play!	Lasciare + che + subjunctive (formal variant)
Non lo lascerò andare via così facilmente.	I won't let him get away so easily.	Future, determined
Lascia stare i dettagli, dimmi la cosa importante.	Never mind the details, tell me the important thing.	Idiomatic dismissal

Common Mistakes

Confusing Fare and Lasciare

• Wrong: Mia madre mi fa uscire con gli amici. (when meaning "allows")
• Right: Mia madre mi lascia uscire con gli amici.
• Why: Fare implies causing or forcing; lasciare implies allowing or permitting. If your mother permits you to go out, use lasciare.

Wrong Pronoun Placement with Imperatives

• Wrong: Mi lascia stare! (when giving a command)
• Right: Lasciami stare!
• Why: In affirmative imperative forms, pronouns attach to the end of the verb. "Mi lascia stare" is a statement (he/she leaves me alone), not a command.

Forgetting "a" with Two Objects

• Wrong: Lascio scegliere Maria il ristorante.
• Right: Lascio scegliere il ristorante a Maria.
• Why: When the infinitive has a direct object, the person being permitted becomes an indirect object, introduced with "a."

Usage Notes

Causative lasciare is used across all registers of Italian. Several idiomatic expressions with lasciare are extremely common in everyday speech and worth memorizing as fixed phrases: lascia stare (leave it/forget it), lascia perdere (drop it/never mind), lascia fare a me (leave it to me / let me handle it).

In more formal or literary Italian, you may encounter lasciare che + subjunctive as an alternative to lasciare + infinitive: "Lascia che decida lui" (Let him decide) instead of "Lascialo decidere." Both are correct, but the subjunctive construction sounds more elevated and is preferred in writing.

The negative imperative "non lasciare" / "non lasciarti" is particularly common in motivational and emotional contexts: "Non lasciarti abbattere" (Don't let yourself be beaten down), "Non lasciare che ti trattino così" (Don't let them treat you like that).

Practice Tips

1. Convert fare sentences to lasciare: Take your causative fare examples and decide whether lasciare would be more appropriate. This trains the fare/lasciare distinction through direct comparison.
2. Memorize key idiomatic phrases: Learn "lascia stare," "lascia perdere," and "lascia fare a me" as fixed units — these three alone will cover countless everyday situations.
3. Practice permission scenarios: Think of rules and permissions in your life (at work, at home, in public spaces) and express them with lasciare — "Il mio capo mi lascia lavorare da casa il venerdì."

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Causative Fare — the causation counterpart that shares the same structural patterns
• Related: Fare — understanding fare's full range helps distinguish it from lasciare