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This means that someone does something for you because you pay or ask
them to do it , but you don’t say who this person is.
Examples:
HAVE / GET SOMETHING DONE
This means that someone does something for you because you pay or ask
them to do it, but you also say who this person is.
Examples:
HAVE SOMEONE DO SOMETHING
This means someone does something for you because you persuade (=
encourage, tell them that you’d like them to do something) them to do it. So this
construction feels less neutral than the previous ones.
Examples:
GET SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING
Why do you make them (your parents) worry so much about you?
This means that you allow ( = let, give permission to do something) someone to
do something or you allow something to happen.
Examples:
LET SOMEONE/SOMETHING DO SOMETHING
Let me go!
Causative # 6 – HELP SOMEONE (to) DO SOMETHING
This means that you help ( = assist) someone (to) do something. This structure
is most often used without ‘to’.
Examples:
HELP SOMEONE (to) DO SOMETHING
The English verbs let, make, have, get, and help are called causative
verbs because they cause something else to happen.
Here are some specific examples of how causative verbs work in English
sentences.
HOW TO USE CAUSATIVE VERBS IN
ENGLISH
LET = PERMIT SOMETHING TO HAPPEN
Grammatical structure:
After Billy broke the neighbor’s window, his parents made him pay for it.
My ex-boyfriend loved sci-fi and made me watch every episode of his favorite show.
The teacher made all the students rewrite their papers, because the first drafts were not
acceptable.
Note: When using the verbs force and require, we must use to + verb.
The school requires the students to wear uniforms.
“Require” often implies that there is a rule.
The hijacker forced the pilots to take the plane in a different direction.
“Force” often implies violence, threats, or extremely strong pressure
Let
FORM
USE
Examples:
Make
FORM
USE
Examples:
Have
FORM
Examples:
Get
FORM
USE
Examples:
Susie got her son to take the medicine even though it tasted terrible.
How can parents get their children to read more?
The government TV commercials are trying to get people to stop smoking.
Examples:
or
S + V + DO + V
or
Note: If a person doing the work comes after the verb, the verb is in the simple form. If
a thing comes after the verb, the verb is in the form of the past participle. In the first
sentence, the word "cut" is a past participle. In the second sentence, "give" is in the
simple form. This is also explained in the video below.
They had their house painted blue.
or
their house.
or
Example: John paid a landscaper to cut his grass. (have) John had his grass
cut by a landscaper.
10. Lisa and Tom hired a company to clean their gutters. (get)
________________________________________________________.
Example: John paid a landscaper to cut his grass. (have) John had his grass
cut by a landscaper.
1. We paid a mechanic to fix our car. (have) We had our car fixed by a
mechanic.
2. Binte went to a manicurist who did her nails. (have) Binted had her nails
done by a manicurist.
3. Bob hired a handyman to fix his door. (get) Bob got his door fixed by a
handyman.
4. The company found a caterer to prepare the food. (have) The company
had the food prepared by a caterer.
5. Linda pays an accountant to do her taxes. (have) Linda has her taxes done
by an accountant.
6. We should call a plumber to replace the toilet. (get) We should get the
toilet replaced by a plumber.
7. They might find a professional to manage this. (have) They might have
this managed by a professional.
8. You should go to a doctor to look at that. (get) You should get that looked
at by a doctor.
9. Mike will pay a lawyer to review the documents. (have) Mike will have the
documents reviewed by a lawyer.
10. Lisa and Tom hired a company to clean their gutters. (get) Lisa and Tom
got their gutters cleaned by a company.
¡Disfruta!
La forma causativa en inglés con get y
have
Se puede hacer las formas causativas tanto con el verbo get como con have.
Y las formas son las mismas, con complemento y participio pasado:
Sorry, Daniel. I can’t go out this weekend. I have to wash my hair. Yes, it’s going to take me all weekend.
No es lo mismo I get my hair cut que I cut my hair. En este segundo caso sí
interpretamos que es uno mismo el que ha cogido unas tijeras y ha procedido.
Para construir una frase causativa en inglés podemos usar indistintamente tanto el
verbo get como el verbo have.
I want to have the walls of my house painted. – Pagas a alguien para que pinte.
They got their new car repaired yesterday. – Alguien, posiblemente un
mecánico, les reparó el coche.
She has her room cleaned every week by a housekeeper. – Un o una trabajador le
limpia cada semana la habitación.
Did your get hair cut at the hairdresser’s? – Un o una profesional le ha cortado
el pelo, en la peluquería
You need to get this computer fixed soon. Bring it to the technician tomorrow. –
El ordenador será arreglado por un técnico.
I’m going to have my trousers cleaned at the laundry. – Los pantalones se
lavarán en la lavandería.
I got my car washed last week. – El coche se lavó en un tren de lavado.
My car broke down, so I got it fixed. – Mandaste a alguien que arreglara tu coche
averiado.
Y tú, ¿qué necesitas que alguien haga para ti? Como ves, la causativa en inglés
indica que alguien hizo algo por otro alguien. Puede parecer una forma
complicada pero, cuanto más la usas más la dominas.
En esta construcción, el complemento no es el sujeto del participio, sino que recibe la acción expresada
por el participio. Por eso hablamos de equivalencia con la voz pasiva.
2. Estructuras causativas con HAVE:
have + complemento + infinitivo sin “to” – su significado es similar al de la estructura con get, con la
diferencia de que se utiliza sobre todo en inglés americano y no existe una connotación de resistencia:
They had us take off our shoes in the middle of the airport.
Nos pidieron que nos sacáramos nuestros zapatos en el centro del aeropuerto.
I can see Mr. Jennings now. Have him come in, please!
Puedo ver al señor Jennings ahora. ¡Pídale que entre, por favor!
Observación:
Existe también una variante de esta estructura con el participio presente, que enfoca la duración de una
situación:
have + complemento + participio pasado – su significado es similar al de la estructura con get, con la
diferencia de que, en algunos contextos, se utiliza para hablar de situaciones desagradables:
a) someone to fix
b) someone fix
3. The school should have _______________ the broken windows.
a) someone to replace
b) someone replace
a) had
b) had to
a) had
b) got
6. He´s 35 but he still ______________his family to pay his bills.
a) has
b) gets
a) checked
b) checking
1. b
2. a
3. b
4. a
5. a
6. b
7. a
8. b
9. b
10. b
B) Rescribir las frases empleando el causativo de have y sin incluir las palabras en mayúsculas. A
continuación se da un ejemplo.
6. SOME PLUMBERS have installed a new central heating system in our house.
We __________________________.
Respuestas:
1- countable singular a
3- uncountable some /x
For the same reason we also use SOME in questions for offerings and
requests, because we are expecting (requests) or encouraging (offers)
an affirmative answer:
- Would you like some coffee? (offering)
- Can I have some more sugar, please? (request)
Notice that we usually make a negative sentence with NOT, but you can
also use some other negative adverbs (never, without, rarely...), so the
rule is the same, with negative adverbs we use ANY and we use NO
with positive adverbs:
- I never see any children here (never - any)
- I always see no children here (no)
- They rarely read any books (rarely - any)
- They usually read no books (no)
- You can hardly say any words in French (hardly - any)
- You can almost say no words in French (no)
- We could do it without any problems (without - any)
- We could do it with no problems (no)
You can use SOME with a singular noun when you want to emphasize
that you don’t know which person or thing that is. In this case we can
use it even with proper nouns. We can consider it an emphatic form of
the singular indefinite article A.
- Some man phoned, but didn’t leave his number
- Is there some problem?
- some John has been looking for you
( in this case the usual translation is: "un tal / algún tipo de", or simply
"un")
Often, there isn't a big difference in meaning between 'no article' and some. However,
we use some when we are talking about a limited number or amount (but we don't
know or we don't want to say the exact quantity).
Some means 'a certain number of' or 'a certain amount of'. We don't use some if we are
talking about something in general or thinking about it as a category. When we
use some, we don't say the exact quantity, but we could probably find it out if we
needed to. For example:
Can you buy some milk? [We don't know exactly how much, but I'm talking about a
certain amount of milk – I don't want all the milk in the world.]
On the other hand, we use 'no article' when we aren't thinking about the quantity. It's
used to talk about the noun as a category, rather than a certain amount of it:
We need Ø milk to make pancakes. [I'm thinking about milk as a category. I'm not
thinking about a certain amount of milk.]
More examples:
We need to buy Ø coffee [I'm talking about coffee as a category, not thinking about the
amount].
Would you like some coffee? [I mean a certain amount of coffee, probably a cup.]
I ate some bread [I mean a certain amount of bread].
I ate Ø bread [not pasta or rice].
Generally, we use any in the same way as some: when we are thinking about a certain
amount or number of something. Remember, usually both some and any can only be
used with plural countable nouns or uncountable nouns, but not usually with singular
countable nouns.
We usually use some with affirmative (positive) sentences and any with negatives and
questions:
She bought some tomatoes [positive sentence].
She didn't buy any tomatoes [negative sentence].
Did she buy any tomatoes [question]?
1: Any can be used in a positive sentence to mean 'it's not important which one'. When
we use any in this way, it's most often used with singular countable nouns:
2: Any can also be used in positive sentences that have a negative feeling, for example if
they include never, hardly, without:
3: Some can be used in questions when we expect that the answer will be 'yes'. This is
very common in offers and requests:
Do you have any letters for me? [This is a real question. I don't know if you have any
letters or not.]
Do you have some letters for me? [I think you do, so I'm expecting that you will say
'yes'.]