Causative have and get
Aprendizaje rápido
Causatives express arranged services, external actions, or involuntary misfortunes using have or get alongside past participles or infinitive structures.
Recuerda
- Form passive causatives with have or get followed by an object and a past participle for outsourced services.
- Form active causatives distinguishing have someone do without to from get someone to do with a to-infinitive.
- Express accidental or catastrophic misfortune with have or get followed by an object and a past participle.
Ejemplos
- 1We had our solar heating system thoroughly inspected by a certified technician before winter set in.
- 2The editor had the freelance journalist revise the feature article to adhere to publication guidelines.
Error común que evitar
Using a to-infinitive after active have; say I had the technician inspect the router, never had the technician to inspect.
Profundiza
La regla
Getting someone else to do it
Causative constructions are used when a person does not perform an action directly, but instead causes, arranges, commissions, or persuades someone else to carry it out.
Have or get something done
The passive causative follows the template: Subject + have / get + object + past participle. Have something done is standard across both formal and informal registers (We had the roof repaired last autumn). Get something done is more informal and often implies overcoming difficulty, urgency, or effort (I finally got my passport renewed).
Have someone do, get someone to do
Active causatives identify the agent performing the task, but exhibit distinct syntactic rules: Have + person + bare infinitive indicates delegating or giving instructions (The director had his assistant draft the memo), whereas Get + person + to-infinitive indicates persuading, convincing, or motivating someone to act (She got her brother to lend her his car).
Something that happened to you
Additionally, both verbs express involuntary experiences where the subject suffered an unfortunate incident (They had their luggage lost during the layover).
Anatomía de la frase
Frases de esta lección, separadas en sus partes en el orden que exige el inglés.
SujetoWeVerbohadObjetoour solar heating systemComplementothoroughly inspectedAgenteby a certified technicianTiempobefore winter set in.
SujetoThe editorVerbohadObjetothe freelance journalistComplementorevise the feature articleOraciónto adhere to publication guidelines.
SujetoThe homeownerVerbois gettingObjetoall the single-pane windowsComplementoreplacedModowith modern double-glazed unitsTiempothis week.
Guía visual
How to read this B2 topic
At B2, the form often changes the focus: agent, emphasis, register, implication, or stance.
1. Decide what is foregrounded
Passive, cleft, inversion, and participle clauses all move attention.
What matters is the evidence.
2. Check register
Some options are grammatical but too informal, too heavy, or unnatural.
Not only did she win, but she broke the record.
3. Watch compressed clauses
Advanced English often removes repeated subjects and auxiliaries.
Having finished, we left.
Decision path before answering
Use these checks before choosing between close options.
- 1Mark the subject, main verb, object, and any connector.
- 2Underline the time expression or discourse clue.
- 3Reject any option with the wrong agreement, tense, article, pronoun case, or word order.
- 4Read the whole sentence once more for naturalness and register.
Contrasts that often decide the answer
Event or background
Simple forms move events forward; continuous forms show an action in progress.
I left while she was talking.
Fact or stance
Modals, hedges, and reporting structures show how certain or responsible the speaker sounds.
This may indicate a problem.
Clause or compressed phrase
Advanced writing often compresses full clauses into participle, noun, or prepositional phrases.
Having reviewed the data, we revised the plan.
Ejemplos
- 1We had our solar heating system thoroughly inspected by a certified technician before winter set in.
- 2The editor had the freelance journalist revise the feature article to adhere to publication guidelines.
- 3After extensive negotiations, the manager got the supplier to reduce the wholesale component price by five percent.
- 4The homeowner is getting all the single-pane windows replaced with modern double-glazed units this week.
- 5Unfortunately, the tourist had his camera stolen while standing in the crowded central piazza.
- 6The executive had her administrative assistant reschedule all international conference calls until Thursday.
- 7I need to get my car serviced before embarking on a thousand-mile road trip across the country.
- 8The architect had detailed blueprint replicas delivered directly to the construction site foreman.
- 9She managed to get the stubborn landlord to repair the central heating unit after filing a formal tenant grievance.
Excepciones
Get can also be used in reflexive causative constructions to indicate personal effort or transformation: He got himself accepted into Cambridge or She got herself tangled in bureaucratic red tape, conveying active agency mixed with unintended consequence.
Errores frecuentes
To after have
Error
We had the plumber to fix the leak.
Correcto
We had the plumber fix the leak.
No to after get
Error
She got him do it.
Correcto
She got him to do it.
Confusing who did the work
"I cut my hair" means you cut it yourself; "I had my hair cut" means a hairdresser did it.
Repaso
Lo esencial de la lección en una tarjeta, antes de ponerte a prueba.
Recuerda
- Form passive causatives with have or get followed by an object and a past participle for outsourced services.
- Form active causatives distinguishing have someone do without to from get someone to do with a to-infinitive.
- Express accidental or catastrophic misfortune with have or get followed by an object and a past participle.
Errores frecuentes
Error: We had the plumber to fix the leak.
Correcto: We had the plumber fix the leak.Error: She got him do it.
Correcto: She got him to do it.
Ponte a prueba
List five services you outsource and rewrite each using have something done and get someone to do something.
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