Causatives: Have and Get

Causatives: Have and Get

1. We use a causative verb when we want to talk about something that someone else did for us or for someone else.

   • Clean my house. If I paid someone to clean it, of course I can say: A cleaner cleaned my house. But another way is to use a causal construction. So I can also say: I had my house cleaned.
   • Have + object + past participle (have something done) We usually use 'have something done' when we are talking about paying someone to do something for us. It's often used for services. The form is 'subject + have + object + past participle'. I had my car washed. John will have his house painted.
     • Get + object + past participle (get something done) We can also use 'subject + get + object + past participle'. This has the same meaning as 'have', but is less formal. The students get their essays checked. I'll get my hair cut next week. He got his washing machine fixed.
   • Have someone do something (have + person + infinitive) This has a very similar meaning to 'have something is done', which we've already talked about, but this time we say who did the thing - we talk about the person who we asked to do the thing for us.
     • Get someone to do something (get + person + to + infinitive) Again, this means that you cause the other person to do the action, maybe by paying them to do it, or by asking them to do it, or by persuading them to do it.