HAVE SOMETHING DONE

HAVE SOMETHING DONE

I.PASSIVE MEANING

a. HAVE SOMETHING DONE AND GET SOMETHING DONE

The Past Participle is used after HAVE and GET to give a passive meaning . In this case , there is little or no difference in meaning between HAVE and GET .

Example sentences :

I had the barber cut my hair . ( active )
I had my hair cut ( by the barber ) ( passive )

She will get a repairman to repair her watch . ( active )
She will get her watch repaired ( by a repairman ) ( passive )

Must we get a translator to translate the documents from Russian into Turkish ? ( active )
Must we get the documents translated from Russian into Turkish ( by a translator ) ? ( passive )

He does not have the porter take up his luggage . ( active )
He does not have his luggage taken up ( by the porter ) ? ( passive )

NOTE : In some cases ( when things happen to us ) , "have something done" suggests the person was quite innocent , and "get something done" suggests that the person was partly responsible for what happened to him .

I had my watch stolen last week .
He got his nose broken in a fight last week .

b. BE MADE TO DO SOMETHING

The passive form of MAKE is different from the others . As in the active form , "Make" gives the idea something is forced to do.

Example sentences :

My father made me cut my hair . ( active )
I was made to cut my hair ( by my father ) . ( active )

The nurse has made my grandmother stay in bed for ten days . ( active )
My grandmother has been made to stay in bed for ten days ( by the nurse ) ( passive )

A GENERAL NOTE FOR ALL THE CAUSATIVES : Questions in the causative form are formed with the helping verbs ( do-does-did … ) Have should not be confused with them .

Had Mary any letters typed yesterday ? ( incorrect )
Did Mary have any letters typed yesterday ? ( correct )

Causative verbs show that somebody/something is indirectly responsible for an action. The subject doesn't perform the action itself, but causes someone/something else to do it instead. For example:
- Yesterday I had my hair cut.
I didn't cut my own hair, but I made someone else do it for me instead - I "caused" them to cut my hair.

Have

Have is a common causative verb. Instead of doing something ourselves, we "have" someone else do it instead. It has the following form:
The verb "to have" + object + past participle. For example:
- I had my jacket cleaned yesterday.
- Did you have your computer fixed?

Sometimes we use have as a causative verb when we intend to perform the action ourselves. For example:
- When will the report be ready? I'll do it by tomorrow morning. >>
- When will the report be ready? I'll have it done by tomorrow morning.

By using the causative the second sentence takes attention away from the doer of the action, and gives more attention to the action being done. It sounds polite and professional.

Get

Get is often used instead of have. For example:
- I got my computer fixed - I had my computer fixed. These two sentences mean the same thing.
- I got my jacket cleane. - I had my jacket cleaned. These two sentences mean the same thing.

Causative verbs are often used with negative experiences. In these situations it's more common to use have. For example:
- I had my wallet stolen. (I didn't actually cause my wallet to be stolen - someone stole my wallet from me)
- She had her window smashed.

II. SERVICE FOR A BUSY WORLD

As we all live in a busy world, we don't have the time (or skills)to do all the things that we need to. That's why we have a service industry that will help us get what need done.

Take a look at these examples:

A jeweller's is a place where you can have your watch fixed.
A dry cleaner's is a place where you can have your suit cleaned.
A florist's is a place where you can have flowers delivered.
A hairdresser's is a place where you can have your hair cut.
A dentist's is a place where you can have your teeth checked.
An optician's is a place where you can have your eyes checked.
A garage is a place where you can have your car repaired.

III.using have something done for bad things

In all the examples above we have looked at services we can pay for if we want. We can also use the same expression when someone does something bad to us. For example:

'Jenny had her car stolen.' Here Jenny did not want someone to steal her car, but someone did it.
'Have you ever had your nose broken in a fight?' Nobody wants to have their nose broken, but it could happen!