Causative Verbs

Instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Question!

Do you fix your own car?

A) Yes
B) No

If not, then who does it?

Instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Question!

Do you cut your own hair?

A) Yes
B) No

If not, then who does it for you?

Instructor: M. Zia Rasa

What are causative verbs?

Causative verbs express an action which is caused

to happen.
Causative verbs express the idea of someone
causing something to happen.

Examples:
1. I make my brother do my homework.
2. She got me to do all her duties.
 Causative Verbs

1) Make 2) Have 3) Get

4) Help 5) let

Instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 1. Make (‫)وادار کردن‬

Make means to force someone to do something.

Structure:
Subject + make + person/thing + verb1

1. My mother makes my sister wash the dishes.

2. The teacher made the students come to class on time.
3. That sad movie made me cry.
4. I will make him work for me.
5. She is trying to make me be her best friend, but I don’t.

Instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 A little more insight…
Force and make have the same meaning.
• Force and is stronger than make.
• With force, always put “to”.

Examples:
 2. Have ()

Have is used when you give someone else the

responsibility to do something for you.

There are 2 forms of causative verb “have.”

1. I had the mechanic fix my car.

2. I had my car fixed.
 Structure (1):
Subject + have + person + verb1

Examples:
1. I will have my students paint the classroom.
2. I had the doctor check my eyes.
3. I had my son pick up the morning newspaper.
4. The manager has his secretary copy the files.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Structure (2):
Subject + have + object + past participle

Examples:
1. I had my hair cut last night.
2. He had his car fixed a few weeks ago.
3. I had my living room painted yesterday.
Note: The second structure is usually used to mean “paid
service.”

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Can you see the difference…?

1. I had my brother paint my room.

2. I had my room painted.

In the first example, you gave the responsibility of painting

your room to your brother and your brother did it.
In the second example, you paid someone to paint your room.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Get
Get is used when we convince or encourage someone
to do something for us.
Structure:
Subject + get + person + to + verb1
1. I tried to get Ali to come to the party.
= I tried to convince Ali to come to the party.
2. I got my best friend to do my homework.
= I convinced my best friend to do my homework.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Let
Let means to give someone permission to do
something.
Structure:
Subject + let + person + verb1

1. I never let my students argue with each other in the class.

2. My parent’s didn’t let me go out yesterday.
3. Setara doesn’t want to let her best friend use her books.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Remember…
The past form of let is itself. There’s no change.

o I let my brother play soccer last week.

o My parents let me stay in my friend’s home for the week.

o The teacher let the students cheat on the exam. That is why
some of the students were upset.
o I let him use my laptop because he had to send his boss a few
files.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Allow and permit can also be used to
mean let.
Allow and permit are more formal. Remember to
always put “to” after them.

Examples:
1. The teacher allowed the students to cheat on the exam.
2. The teacher permitted the students to cheat on the exam.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Help
Help means to assist.
Structure:
(1) Subject + help + person + verb1
(2) Subject + help + person + to + verb1

Examples:
1. I helped my brother do his math homework.
2. I helped my brother to do his math homework.

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 1) The police made the criminal drop his gun.
2) The police had the criminal drop his gun.
3) The police got the criminal to drop his gun.

In example 1, the criminal had no choice.

In example 2, the criminal

instructor: M. Zia Rasa

 Exercises
• Make two sentences for each following terms.
(one sentence in the present, one sentence in the past)

Make Have
Get Help
Let Force
Require Allow
Permit assist

instructor: M. Zia Rasa