Causatives: have and get something done
Using have/get + object + past participle to say someone else does a job for us, plus have/get someone do/to do.
We use the causative when we do not do a job ourselves but arrange for another person to do it for us. The most common pattern is have/get + object + past participle, where the object is the thing that is acted upon: 'I had my car repaired' means a mechanic repaired it, not me. 'Have' and 'get' are almost interchangeable here, though 'get' is slightly more informal and often suggests effort or persuasion. The structure works in every tense, simply by changing 'have/get' (I have my hair cut every month; She had the photos printed; They are getting the house painted; We will have the documents translated). A second causative pattern uses a person as the object: 'have someone do something' (bare infinitive) and 'get someone to do something' (to-infinitive) — 'The teacher had us write an essay'; 'I got my brother to help me'. The causative can also express something unpleasant that happens to us: 'He had his wallet stolen.' For example: 'Instead of fixing it myself, I had my laptop repaired at the shop yesterday.'
Rules
- 1Use have/get + object + past participle when someone else does the action for you: 'I had my hair cut' (the hairdresser cut it).
- 2The object (the thing affected) comes BEFORE the past participle: have/get + [thing] + done, never 'have done [thing]'.
- 3'Have' and 'get' are usually interchangeable; 'get' is more informal and can suggest extra effort or persuasion.
- 4Change only the form of have/get to change the tense: 'She is having the room painted', 'We had the car serviced', 'They will get the roof fixed'.
- 5For people: 'have someone DO sth' (bare infinitive) but 'get someone TO DO sth' (to-infinitive); the same pattern also reports misfortunes: 'He had his phone stolen.'
Practice
15 easy · 15 medium · 15 hard