Have something done

Have something done – causative have

Someone does something for us

We use have + object + past participle when we want to talk about something that someone else does for us, usually because we pay them, or because we persuade or ask them to do it. Compare:

The verb have is not an auxiliary verb in this construction. We need to use did or do for negative sentences and questions when there is no auxiliary verb.

We can use have something done in any verb tense.

Negative experiences

We can also use have something done with a passive meaning when something bad happens to us.

 

Get something done

In informal English, we can use get + object + past participle with the same meaning as have something done.

 

Have someone do something

We can use the construction have + person + infinitive with the same meaning as have something done, but in this case we mention the person who is doing something for us.

 

Get someone to do something

We can also use the construction get + someone + to+ infinitive to talk about someone doing something for us, because we are paying them, or because we asked or convinced them to do it. However, get someone to do something often implies the idea that you have convinced someone to do something.