The expression "to make new sandals" is "faire de nouvelles sandales"
To say I have new sandals made, the correct answer is "Je me fais faire de nouvelles sandales" but I don't understand why it is a reflexive verb. I would have thought the answer is "Je fais faire de nouvelles sandales"
Julie,
to make something for yourself is ‘ se faire qqc ‘.
This sentence ‘ Je me fais faire de nouvelles sandales ‘, tells us not just that the speaker is having some sandals made, but specifically that he/she is having them made for him/herself.
As strange as the structure may seem to English speakers, and maybe to other non-native French speakers, it results in ‘ having (someone else) make something for yourself ‘ translating into French as ‘ se (faire) faire qqc ‘. As per the lesson, the reflexive ( se faire ) wraps around the conjugated causative faire ( more easily seen with other reflexives - se fait brosser, se fait raser etc. )
“ To express to have [something] [done] in French, you use the following pattern:
faire + [infinitive] + [object]
ATTENTION:
If the action done is expressed with a reflexive verb (se couper, se raser...), then the reflexive pronoun will be placed before faire, as such:
Even though the English sentence in this example is not specific on the point of ‘ for whom’, the French sentence quoted is the only one of the options that I see given that can be a correct answer, as the other options are not in the proper causative format.
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/se%20faire
Don't have an account yet? Join today
Test your French to the CEFR standard
Find your French level