nechať / dať si + Infinitive

Letting and Having Something Done

Level 4

Nechať + a person + an infinitive means to let or allow: Nechaj ma ísť (Let me go). Dať si + an infinitive means you get someone else to do something for you: Dala si ostrihať vlasy (She had her hair cut).

How It Works

1. Letting someone do something. Nechať (perfective) or nechávať (imperfective) + accusative + infinitive:

  • Nechaj ho hovoriť. Let him speak.
  • Rodičia ju nechali ísť na koncert. Her parents let her go to the concert.
  • Nechal nás čakať celú hodinu. He kept us waiting for a whole hour.

The person is in the accusative, so pronouns take their object forms: ma, ťa, ho, ju, nás, vás, ich.

2. Having something done. Dať si + infinitive + the thing:

  • Dal som si opraviť auto. I had my car repaired.
  • Dám si ušiť šaty. I will have a dress made.
  • Dali sme si vymaľovať byt. We had our flat painted.

Without si, the job is not done for yourself: Starosta dal opraviť cestu. (The mayor had the road repaired.)

Nechať si for a service. In speech you will also hear nechať si ušiť šaty, but Slovak dictionaries mark nechať si as incorrect in this meaning. Use dať si: dať si ušiť šaty.

With sa: letting it happen to you. Nechal sa presvedčiť. (He let himself be persuaded.) Dal sa ostrihať. (He had his hair cut.)

Other meanings to keep apart. Without an infinitive, nechať means to leave: Nechal som kľúče doma. Dať si + a noun means to have or order: Dám si kávu. For wishes about a third person, English "let" is nech: Nech príde. (Let him come.) And mať + passive participle describes a finished result, not a service: Mám opravené auto. (My car is repaired.)

Examples (6)

  1. Nechaj ho hovoriť.

    Let him speak.

    Word by Word: Let him to-speak.

  2. Rodičia ju nechali ísť na koncert.

    Her parents let her go to the concert.

    Word by Word: Parents her let to-go to concert.

  3. Dal som si opraviť auto.

    I had my car repaired.

    Word by Word: I-gave myself to-repair car.

    Si shows that the job was done for you.

  4. Včera si dala ostrihať vlasy.

    She had her hair cut yesterday.

    Word by Word: Yesterday herself she-gave to-cut hair.

  5. Nechal nás čakať celú hodinu.

    He kept us waiting for a whole hour.

    Word by Word: He-let us to-wait whole hour.

  6. Starosta dal opraviť cestu do dediny.

    The mayor had the road to the village repaired.

    Word by Word: Mayor gave to-repair road to village.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a conjugated verb after nechať.

    Nechaj ho hovorí.
    Nechaj ho hovoriť.

    After nechať the second verb is always an infinitive: hovoriť, ísť, spať.

  • Using the subject form of the pronoun.

    Nechajte ja ísť.
    Nechajte ma ísť.

    The person who is allowed to act is the object of nechať, so it takes the accusative: ma, ho, ju.

  • Saying you did the job when a mechanic did it.

    Opravil som si auto v servise.
    Dal som si opraviť auto v servise.

    Opravil som si auto says that you did the repair yourself. To say clearly that a mechanic at the garage (v servise) did the work, use dať si + infinitive.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

nechať / dať si + InfinitiveLevel 4Letting and Having Something Done

Learn This First

Before Letting and Having Something Done, learn Let Him or Her: nech and Reflexive Verbs With si. nechať, like nech, lets someone act. dať si uses reflexive si.

Words in This Pattern

nechaťdať