2. THE CAUSATIVE
The causative…
• is used when we arrange for
something to be done for us by
someone else.
• refers to actions which are done for
the subject rather than by the subject.
• has to do with a subject that causes
the action to be done.
EXAMPLE: Anna and Lucy are having their house painted this week (by professional painters).
Did they pay someone to paint their house for them?
Are Anna and
Lucy painting
their house?
Who is
painting their
house?
3. THE CAUSATIVE: STRUCTURE
SUBJECT + GET / HAVE + SOMETHING + DONE (Past Participle)
Person who makes
another person/
people do something
for them.
Informal
(spoken
language)
Formal
(written
language)
Most important
object of the
sentence
Irregular verbs list:
3rd column
1. Cristina Pedroche has some piercings in her ears.
2. She didn't pierce her own ears. She went to a pharmacy.
This means...
Cristina Pedroche got/ had her
nose pierced at the pharmacy
Conjugated
5. What are they doing?
Mario and Luigi are
painting their house
What is going on?
They are too
lazy to paint the
house
themselves so
they make other
people do it.
The house is being painted by
the painters while Mario and
Luigi chill out by the pool.
Mario and Luigi are having
their house painted.
6. 2005 2024
What happened to his teeth?
When he got rich, CR7 his teeth
were operated by a dentist.
CR7 got his teeth operated (by
a dentist) when he got rich.
He was a poor
person and
couldn’t operate
on his own teeth
so he made other
person do it.
7. What is he doing?
He is mowing the lawn.
However, he is a very
shameless person so…
What is going on?
The lawn is being mowed by
his son.
The man is having his lawn
mowed (by his son)
He is a shameless
person and doesn’t
feel like mowing the
lawn so he makes
other person do it.
8. What did he do?
The man tried to repair his
TV.
What happened?
The TV was repaired by the
technician while the man was
watching him.
The man got his TV repaired
(by the technician).
2010 2010
He failed to fix
the television by
himself so he
made other
person do it.
9. 2007 2022
What happened to her face?
When he got famous, Kim
Kardashian's face was surgically
redone by a surgeon.
Kim Kardashian got her face
surgically redone (by a surgeon)
when she got famous.
She was unhappy with the way she looked and, being unable to
change her physical appearance herself, she decided to make a
person physically change her.
10. What is Messi doing? What is happening?
A meal is being prepared for
Messi by a chef.
Messi is having a meal
prepared by a chef.
He is an impatient
person and
doesn’t have the skills
to prepare a barbecue
so he makes a chef do
it.
Messi is preparing a meat
barbecue. However, he's not very
good at it and it's all burnt.
11. Editing my videos is
driving me crazy!!!!
He is having a
mental breakdown,
so he needs
someone to edit his
videos.
His videos should be edited by
another person.
He should have his videos
edited by another person.
12. What will happen?
2 days later
What is she doing?
The woman is trying to fix
her car.
Her car will be fixed by the
mechanics.
The woman will get her car fixed
(by the mechanics).
It is impossible
for her to fix her
car so she will
make other
people do it.
13. What is the boss doing?
The boss makes the
workers do the hard work.
What is going on with the
workers?
He is so rich that
he makes other
people do his
work.
His work is being done by
his interns.
The boss gets the work done
(by his workers).
14. What did she do?
She burnt her blouse while
she was ironing it.
What was going on?
The blouse was mended by the
by the dressmaker while she
was having a coffee.
The woman got her blouse
mended (by the dressmaker)
She is a clumsy and
doesn’t know how to
mend her blouse so
she makes other
person do it.
15. What will happen?
1 week later
What are they doing?
The two old men are trying
to fix her car.
Their toilet will be repaired by a
plumber.
The two old men will get their
toilet repaired (by a plumber)
It is impossible for
them to fix their
toilet because they
are too old, so they
hire a plumber to do
it.
16. NON-CAUSATIVE USES
• We can also use the causative structure (get/have
something done)
– to refer to events which happened to someone,
– but these events were outside their control.
He was hiking in the mountains when he
slipped and fell off the cliff.
Unfortunately, he got himself killed after
hiking. It was a terrible accident.
17. What happened to her?
Taylor's Swift laptop was hacked
by Anonymous and her new
album was leaked as well
Taylor Swift got her laptop
hacked and her new album
leaked
Anonymous hacked Taylor Swift's
laptop and leaked her new album
She was too naive and
opened a suspicious
spam email
2022
18. Former CIA officer
Do you know what
happened to her?
Her father’s enemies
kidnapped her.
She was kidnapped by her
father’s enemies.
She got herself kidnapped by
her father’s enemies. However,
it wasn’t her fault.
