The causative — have/get something done
IntroducedGetting things done by others
- The causative says someone else does a job for you.
- I had my hair cut. (a hairdresser cut it, not me)
- It's different from doing it yourself.
I had my hair cut; the hairdresser handled the difficult part.
have something done
- have + object + past participle.
- I had my hair cut. We are having our house painted.
- The "be" of having it done can be in any tense.
Choose the causative (someone else does it):
Causative = have + object + past participle: “had my hair cut”.
Complete: We are having our house ___ (paint).
have + object + past participle: paint → painted.
Translate into English: 我昨天(请人)剪了头发。
Causative: “I had my hair cut yesterday.” (someone cut it for me)
get something done (informal)
- get + object + past participle — the same meaning, more casual.
- I need to get my phone fixed. She got her photo taken.
- have and get are usually interchangeable here.
Who actually did it?
have/get something done = you arranged it, someone else did it; plain verb = you did it yourself.
Word order matters
- Keep the order: have/get + the thing + past participle.
- I had my car repaired. (someone repaired it for me)
- I repaired my car. (I did it myself) — a different meaning!
Does “I had my car repaired” mean someone else repaired it for me?
Yes — the causative means you arranged for someone else to do it.
Common mistakes
- ❌ I cut my hair yesterday. (at a salon) → ✓ I had my hair cut. — the active means you did it yourself.
- Word order: have + thing + participle — had my hair cut, never had cut my hair (that's past perfect).
- With people: have + person + base verb; get + person + to + verb.
Who did it? Match each sentence.
Active = you did it; have/get something done = a service; get + person + to = you persuaded them.
Complete: We are having our house ___ . (paint)
have + thing + past participle: having our house painted.
- Causative = have / get + object + past participle.
- It means someone else does the job for you.
- Watch the word order; get is the informal version of have.
Write one sentence about something you had (or get) done by someone else, using the causative (have/get + something + past participle).
Example: “I need to get my computer fixed.”