The Causative Verbs Have and Get

I'm going to talk about two causative verbs today - HAVE and GET because they are often interchangeable.

HAVE = give someone else the responsibility to do something

Grammatical structure:

• HAVE + PERSON + VERB (base form)
• HAVE + THING + PAST PARTICIPLE OF VERB

Examples of grammatical structure #1:

• I’ll have my secretary call you to set up the appointment.
• The businessman had his secretary make copies of the report.

Examples of grammatical structure #2:

• I’m going to have my dog groomed on the weekend (at the weekend - Br. Eng)
• We’re having our carpets cleaned this weekend.
• Brenda had her hair cut short; she looks years younger!
• My computer is broken; I need to have it fixed.

Note: Often, you can use get instead of have:

• I’m going to get my dog groomed on the weekend (at the weekend - Br. Eng)
• We’re getting our carpets cleaned this weekend.
• Brenda got her hair cut short; she looks years younger!
• My computer is broken; I need to get it fixed.

GET = convince/encourage someone to do something

Grammatical structure:

• GET + PERSON + TO + VERB

Examples:

• How can we get all students to be in school before the bell?
• I can never get my wife to iron my shirts!
• I am afraid of sharks but my friends got me to go for a swim in the sea.
• I was able to get a local band to play free at our dance.