2

In Italian, I could write a sentence like the following.

Porto l'auto da mio cugino per farla riparare.

It means I am taking my car to my cousin's, where somebody will fix it. It doesn't explicitly says the person who would fix it (e.g. it could be my cousin, or any person my cousin called and asked to go to his house), but it's clear that I would not be involved in fixing it. My only involvement will be, roughly, limited to taking my car to my cousin's. (I could be asked, for example, to switch on/off the engine while somebody else checks it.)

I tried to translate in English similar sentences containing farla/farlo, but Google Translate uses the infinitive of the verb (e.g. to fix it), or the passive (e.g. to be fixed).

Is there a way I could translate that sentence without losing its meaning, and without using a too much long sentence (i.e. I am taking my car to my cousin's where somebody will fix it)?

|improve this question
  • From a previous question I asked, I get that passive doesn't mean I am not doing the task. Farlo is just fare + lo, which is roughly equivalent to make it. – kiamlaluno Apr 25 '17 at 8:57
  • You're right, it doesn't. But it also doesn't mean that you are the one executing the task. That's the beauty (or the downside?) of passive voice: it doesn't say anything at all except to express the action. – Teacher KSHuang Apr 25 '17 at 9:22
  • 1
    The passive voice doesn't directly state that you're not doing the task, but it it certainly implies it. The fact that you're using the active for "I am taking my car to my cousin's" vs. the passive for "to be fixed" suggests that someone else will do the fixing, or you would probably say "...to fix it." Frankly, I think the passive is probably what you want here. – stangdon Apr 25 '17 at 11:41
  • @stangdon What would your answer for ell.stackexchange.com/questions/124667/… be? – kiamlaluno Apr 25 '17 at 12:41
3

"To get [it] fixed" is the phrase you're looking for here.

I'm taking my car to my cousin's to get it fixed.

"To get it fixed" in this context means "to have it repaired."

Be careful you do not mix this up with "to get [an animal] fixed" (Definition 2) which means to have the animal neutered or spayed :(.

|improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.