faire de vs rendre

Question

In the last sentence, the correct response uses "fait de".  Why isn't "rend" acceptable? Is it because rendre is strictly = make something + adjective, not make something into something else + adjective?

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Earl,
Faire [qch] [qch] / Faire de [qch] [qch] = to make [sth] [sth] / to make [sth] into [sth]
Rendre [qch/qqn] + adjective = to make [sth/sb] + adjective / to drive [sth/sb] + adjective
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Rendre is a bit more passive version of faire in this context. It also comes across smoother and in a bit of a higher register than faire. It comes close to the English "to render".