Causative Verbs

Form

A causative verb says that somebody arranged, forced or allowed an action instead of doing it personally.

Make, let and have take an object and then the base verb (The noise made me wake up; They let him stay; I had the plumber fix the leak), while get takes an object and a to-infinitive (I got my brother to help). For work that somebody else does for you, use have or get + object + past participle (I had my car repaired), which leaves the person who did the work out of the sentence altogether. The four verbs differ in force: make is strongest, get involves persuading, have is a straightforward arrangement, and let is permission.

When to Use It

1. 1

   Force or an irresistible cause, with make + the base verb

   The smell made everyone leave the room.

2. 2

   Permission, with let + the base verb

   My parents let me stay up late on Fridays.

3. 3

   Handing a task to somebody whose job it is, with have + the base verb

   I had my assistant book the flights.

4. 4

   Persuading somebody who needed convincing, with get + a to-infinitive

   I finally got the landlord to fix the heater.

5. 5

   A service done for you, with have or get + the past participle

   She had her hair cut before the interview.

6. 6

   Something unwanted that happened to you, also with have + the past participle

   They had their flight canceled twice.

Common Mistakes

• To after make or let: write She made him apologize, not She made him to apologize — make and let take the base verb.
• Get without to: write I got him to sign it, not I got him sign it — get is the one causative that needs to.
• A base verb where the work is done for you: write I had my teeth cleaned, not I had my teeth clean — the participle shows that somebody else did it.
• Let in the passive: write We were allowed to leave early, not We were let to leave early — let has no natural passive, so be allowed to takes over.
• Make in the passive without to: write He was made to apologize, not He was made apologize — the to comes back as soon as make goes passive.