Causatives

Causatives (structures with get and have)

Active

Means 'cause' or order someone to do something.

Passive

Arrange for somebody else to do something

Get + person + to-infinitive

Get/Have + object + verb

Have + person + infinitive + infinitive without to

I will get the waiter to bring you the menu.

I will have the waiter bring you the menu.

Will have/get Had to get/have Must get/have Is getting/ having

I will have/get the menu brought to you.

Things that happen to you

Get + -ed active and passive

In spoken English we can use get instead of be in the passive.

Subject + get + V.P.P.

They got punished by the principal for making so much noise.

In active voice get can mean 'become'.

get dressed/ get lost/ get used to/ get burned/ get involved/ get married /get caught/ get stuck

We can use some of these active phrases with an object.

I have to get the children dressed early every morning.

We use causatives to describe things that happen to us often misfortune. The subject is the person who experiences what happened.

Have + object + V.P.P.

She has got another letter published in The Times.

My mother has had her letter published in The Times.

In spoken English we can sometimes use get instead of have.