Causatives
Table of Contents
What Are Causatives?
Causatives are grammatical structures we use when someone causes another person to do something, or when one action leads to another. Instead of focusing on who actually performs the action, causatives highlight the person who makes it happen. For example, if you ask a mechanic to fix your car, you might not say “The mechanic fixed my car.” Instead, you could use a causative and say, “I had my car fixed.” In this way, causatives shift the focus from the doer to the person who arranged or caused the action. They are very common in everyday English and appear in different forms depending on the situation.
How To Use Causatives
The most common causative structure in English is have + object + past participle (V3). This is used when someone arranges for another person to perform a service or action. For example, instead of saying “I cut my hair,” you would say “I had my hair cut,” which means you went to a hairdresser and they did the action.
The verb have follows normal grammar rules and changes depending on the subject, tense, or sentence type, while the object and past participle remain the same. For instance: “I have my car washed every week” (present), “I had my car washed yesterday” (past), “I will have my car washed tomorrow” (future). Questions and negatives are also formed in the usual way: “Did you have your hair cut?” and “I didn’t have the roof repaired.”
Another common form is get + object + past participle, which carries the same meaning as have but is usually more informal. For example, “I got my phone fixed” has the same meaning as “I had my phone fixed.”
In summary, causatives are built with the pattern have/get + object + past participle. The past participle never changes, but the verb have or get adjusts according to tense, subject, or sentence type.
In causative sentences, the word order follows the pattern:
| Subject + have/get | Object | Past Participle / -ing | Complete Sentence |
|---|---|---|---|
| I have | my car | washed | I have my car washed every Saturday. |
| She is having | her hair | cut | She is having her hair cut this afternoon. |
| They had | the garden | planted | They had the garden planted last spring. |
| We are getting | the house | painted | We are getting the house painted this week. |
| He will have | his bike | repaired | He will have his bike repaired tomorrow. |
| Are you getting | your eyes | checked | Are you getting your eyes checked this month? |
| I don’t like having | my picture | taken | I don’t like having my picture taken at parties. |
| We had | our carpets | cleaned | We had our carpets cleaned yesterday. |
| She is going to have | dinner | delivered | She is going to have dinner delivered tonight. |
| They usually get | their windows | wiped | They usually get their windows wiped every month. |
| Did you have | your shoes | polished | Did you have your shoes polished before the party? |
| He didn’t get | his suit | cleaned | He didn’t get his suit cleaned before the interview. |
A Common Mistake with Causatives
One of the biggest sources of confusion with causatives is how similar they look to perfect tenses. Compare these two sentences: I have my car washed and I have washed my car. At first glance, they look almost identical, but the meanings are completely different. In the first sentence, have my car washed is a causative structure. It means that someone else washes the car for me, such as a car wash service. In the second sentence, have washed my car is the present perfect tense, and it means that I personally did the action of washing the car.
The same difference appears in past forms: She had the roof repaired means she arranged for someone else, like a contractor, to repair the roof. But She had repaired the roof is the past perfect tense, and it tells us that she herself completed the repair before another time in the past. The only difference is where the past participle appears: in causatives it comes after the object (had the roof repaired), while in perfect tenses it comes directly after the auxiliary verb (had repaired).
Understanding this difference is important because the word order changes the meaning of the sentence. In causatives, the focus is on arranging for someone else to do the work, while in perfect tenses the focus is on the subject doing the action. To learn more about tenses, visit our grammar hub.
Other Verbs Used In Causatives
The verbs make, order, ask, and tell can be used causatively to cause someone to perform an action. They follow the structure: verb + object + base verb. Each verb carries a slightly different nuance.
Make
Make is used when the subject forces or strongly encourages someone to do something. The emphasis is on compulsion.
The teacher made the students stay after class.
She made him apologize for his mistake.
The coach made the players run extra laps.
Order
Order indicates that the subject gives a command or directive. It shows authority.
The manager ordered the staff to prepare the meeting room.
The captain ordered the crew to secure the sails.
The principal ordered the students to remain in the hall.
Ask
Ask is used when the subject requests someone to do something. It focuses on a polite or neutral request.
She asked him to help with the project.
They asked the waiter to bring the bill.
I asked my friend to pick me up from the airport.
Tell
Tell is used to instruct, inform, or advise someone to do something. The emphasis is on giving instructions or directions.
He told her to clean her room.
The coach told the players to practice their shots.
She told me to call her when I arrived.
How Causatives Are Used in Authentic Contexts
Work Environment
Yesterday, the project manager made the team review the client’s feedback thoroughly before the morning meeting. He ordered the assistant to prepare the presentation slides with all the latest data. Later, he asked the designer to finalize the graphics, making sure they matched the client’s specifications, and he told the interns to compile the research data into a comprehensive report. During the afternoon, he had the IT team update the software to fix a critical bug that was slowing down the workflow. He also got the legal department to review the new contract and suggest any necessary changes. By the end of the day, he had successfully coordinated all the tasks, ensuring the team met the client’s deadline and everything was prepared for the next phase of the project.
Date Night
Last weekend, I was preparing for a special dinner date and had the carpets cleaned to make the living room look perfect. I had the flowers delivered so the table would look fresh and inviting. I made my friend help set the table with candles, silverware, and elegant glasses. I asked my neighbor to water the plants to keep the room vibrant, and I got a baker to prepare a special dessert to surprise my date. My partner hadn’t seen the arrangements yet, so I also told my friend to guide them to the living room without spoiling the surprise. By the time my date arrived, everything was ready: the atmosphere was perfect, the room smelled wonderful, and all the little details were in place.
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