Causative Verbs:

We use a causative verb when we want to talk about something that someone else did for us
or for another person. It means that the subject caused the action to happen, but didn’t do
it themselves. Maybe they paid, or asked, or persuaded the other person to do it. For
example, we can say:

 I cleaned my house. (This means I cleaned it myself).

If I paid someone to clean it, of course I can say:

 A cleaner cleaned my house.

But, another way is to use a causative construction. So I can also say:

 I had my house cleaned.

In a sense, using a causative verb is similar to using a passive. The important thing is that the
house is now clean. We don’t focus on who did the cleaning.

Have:
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.
 Ben has his house cleaned.
 Gary loves having his photo taken.
 I had my hair cut.
 Tahir had her car repaired.
 We will have our new flat painted.
 I am going to have these documents translated.
 She will have her phone repaired tomorrow.
 They are having their car refuelled.

Get:
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.
 I love getting my photo taken.
 Sarah got her hair cut.
 We’re going to get our new flat painted.
In all of these sentences, the subject doesn’t perform the action, someone else does it. We
often don’t say who does the action, either because it is obvious or it isn’t important. This is
the same as when we use the passive voice.

Have (2):
Have someone do something (have + person + infinitive)
We can also use the construction ‘subject + have + person + infinitive’. This has a very
similar meaning to ‘have something 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.

 I had the electrician look at my broken light.

 The doctor will have the nurse call the patients.
 The teacher had the students write the answers on the whiteboard.
 Sue is having her cleaner sweep the garage.
 The teacher has his students write an essay every Friday.
 I had my children clean their rooms.
 I will have Jane call you.
 We had a painter paint our apartment.
 Sheila had a hairdresser do her hair.
 Paul had a mechanic fix his car.

Get (2):
Get someone to do something (get + person + to + infinitive)
We can also use the construction ‘get + someone + 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.

 She gets her son to do his homework by promising him ice cream when he’s finished.
 I got the cleaner to clean under the cupboards
 My dad gets all his friends to help him bake the cakes for the weekly bake sale.
 I got my son to cook dinner because I was tired.
 Helen got the mechanic to check the whole engine.
 They will get a professional to check their speech before the event.
 Jane got her son to help her with the dishes.
 She got her boyfriend to buy her an expensive ring.
  I got my neighbour to help me carry my suitcase.
 I will get my assistant to deliver the papers.
 I got my son to make me coffee.

Make:
The causative verb make is used to say that we force someone or something to do
something. We use make with the structure
Subject + make + object + infinitive.

 She made me watch a horror film.

 I make my children do their homework before dinner.
 In the first sentence, we understand that the person didn’t want
 To watch the horror film and in the second, that the children
 Don’t want to do their homework before dinner – or maybe at all!
 I make people take off their shoes when they come to my house.
 My parents made me call him to apologise.
 I know my teacher will make me rewrite this essay.
 They make students exercise regularly.
 John’s mum made him eat his dinner.
 His parents tried to make him be a better person.
 She made him promise to buy a new car.
 He was not able to make her change her mind.
 Her boss made her leave her job.

Let:
When we use let as a causative verb, we mean that we give someone permission to do
something or we allow something to happen.
The structure is subject + let + object + infinitive.

 My parents let their grandchildren stay up as late as they want.

 I let the grass grow very long and now it’s hard to cut it.
The first sentence involves an active decision to give the children permission to stay up. The
second sentence means we allow something to happen, but we didn’t make an active
decision about it.

 I don’t let my children have sugary drinks.

 My parents didn’t let me take the train alone until I was 12.
 The teacher will let the students watch a film during their last lesson
 We couldn’t let our daughter adopt a kitten because she’s allergic to cats.
 My brother let me use his computer when mine broke down.
 Sarah never lets anyone tell her what to do.
  She lets her husband to focus on his job.
 Will you let me use your computer?
 Let her say what she wants.
 They let me drink some cold drinks after her interview.

Help:
Help means to assist someone. The structure when we use help as a causative verb is:
subject + help + object + (to) infinitive. We can create sentences with or without to and the
meaning doesn’t change. It’s more common to create sentences without to.

 Music helps me to fall asleep.

 My extra lessons help me pass tests at school.
 I helped my friend move house.
 Alex helped her mum clean the flat.
 My mum will help me decorate my flat.
 My grandfather is going to help me to learn to drive.
Note: after “help” you can use the infinitive with to (to do) or bare infinitive (do).

 Helen helped me (to) do my homework.

 A cup of coffee in the morning helps me (to) wake up.
 My colleague helped me (to) write my CV.