Have (something) done
Causative Have / Get
She had the house painted last week
I have my hair cut once a month
I'm having the car repaired
Have something done and Get something done are both used to refer to actions which are done for the subject rather than by the subject. Causative verbs are used instead of passive verbs to show that the subject causes the action to be done. Somebody else does the job for us.
She had the house painted → She employed someone to paint the house; she didn't do it herself
I have my hair cut → I go to the hairdresser's; I don't do it myself
I'm having the car fixed → The car is being fixed by the mechanic; I don't do it myself
SUBJECT HAVE/GET
OBJECT PAST PARTICIPLE
She had
the house
painted
I have
my hair
cut
I am going to get
my nails
manicured
IMPORTANT: The differences between have and get something done are that have is a bit more formal than get, and that get is more frequent than have in spoken English
OTHER USES OF HAVE AND GET
Have and get are also used in situations where something bad has happened to people or their possessions. This is not something they wanted to happen.
Examples: He got his nose broken playing rugby
I had my car stolen from the car park
We had the roof damaged in the storm
1. Phil (wash / his car) every Saturday
2. Tomorrow we (repair / our dish washer)
3. I (make / a new key) and gave it to my daughter
4. He (clean / his suit) just before the wedding
5. We (paint / just / the sitting room)
6. My sister (redecorate / her kitchen) next month
7. We should (organize / the party) by professionals
1. I ... yesterday.
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a. had the oil in my car changed
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b. have the oil in my car changed
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a. her purse was stolen
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b. had her purse stolen
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a. am going to service my car
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b. am going to have my car serviced
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a. to take my photo
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b. to have my photo taken
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a. to get my dress cleaned
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b. to clean my dress
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a. get my eyes tested
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b. to test my eyes
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a. had his flat burgled
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b. burgled his flat
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