Causative "have"

Form
Have + object + past participle -- to have something done
Have + object + bare infinitive -- to have someone do something

Functions and examples

1. We use causative have when arranging for someone to do something for us.

They repaired their car. -- they did it themselves

They had their car repaired. -- they arranged for someone to repair it
I cut my hair yesterday. -- I cut it myself
I had my hair cut yesterday. -- I went to the hairdresser

2. We also use causative have when someone does something to us.

Bill had his money stolen by a thief.

Important points
1. Get is possible instead of have, usually in informal spoken English.

I'm going to get my car fixed tomorrow.

2. We can also use to have someone do something to talk about giving instructions
or orders -- more common in American English.

I had my assistant type the report.

I'll have my lawyer look into it.

Teaching causative

• I ask students to imagine they were rich and could have all sorts of
things done for them, annoying everyday chores that nobody likes doing plus
some luxury pampering that money allows for.

I give a few examples of my own:

I'd have my nails done once a week.

I'd have my garden weeded and my lawn mowed.
I'd have my bedroom redecorated in beautiful oriental sumptuous colours and
fabrics.
 I'd have the evening meal cooked by a professional cook.
I'd have my shopping done and the house cleaned from top to bottom every
two days.

This would leave me time to do the things I enjoy, like reading, chatting to
friends, going for walks and playing tennis."
Delia

• I give each student a drawing of a town, with lots of different

businesses. I first elicit what each business does (i.e. in the hair salon they
cut your hair, at the mechanic they fix your car... etc) to check vocabulary.
Then I introduce the grammar and ask what you can have done in each - in
the hair salon I can have my hair cut, at the mechanic I can have my car
fixed, etc."
Timita

• I write the following sentence on the board: I have my hair cut every
week.

1. Elicit the FORM from the students (have/has + noun + past participle)
2. Use the following concept questions to elicit YES or NO:
Do I cut my hair? Ss: NO
Does somebody else cut my hair? Ss: YES
Do I pay money? Ss: YES
3. If you cut your hair yourselves, how would you say that? I elicit: I cut my
hair.
4. Elicit that every week expresses "a habit", and have is in the present
simple tense
5. Write the following on the board: house/clean and elicit I have my house
cleaned
Of course I repeat the concept questions to make sure that my students
grasp the new structure, and I have them drill it (whole class/individuals).
6. Written practice.

Good luck.
Houcine

• In a previous class I ask my students to tell me about the services they

need and the establishments that are near their homes or the ones they
usually go to. According to the information they give, I elicit the services and
I write on the board some examples like

My computer is not working, I need to get it fixed.

I ask my students to go out of my classroom with me and pretend that they

 are school inspectors. The students are asked to mention all the problems
they see in the school. They find out problems in teams like:

The pool is dirty, the steps are chipped, the handrail is scratched.

When we go back to the classroom, they must give a solution to all the
problems they saw or identified. We all check the answers and correct them
as a group. As a follow-up activity, I ask them to check the problems they see
in their house and give solutions for homework.

I hope you like this idea. This is a real effective communicative activity."
Prof. German Albavera

• Family - friends and favours.

Students work on the importance of working as a team inside the family so
the house and errands are done on time. They comment about how friends
help each other in good and bad moments. They make posters with lists of
things the get/have done by others. They choose which favour was the most
memorable."
Diana

• Question:
"3 people have had money stolen from their offices"
This looks like causative but uses "have" + "had". Anybody know how to
teach this use?"
Al

• Al - this is causative in the present perfect. I'd suggest teaching it in

conjunction with "Have you ever..." type questions."

• I usually ask my students to think about the things they don't like or
don't know how to do by themselves. Then I ask them how they manage to
get them done, I repeat some of the first answers with the causative form.
Then the rest of the students are asked to model according to the new type of
sentences I have introduced."
Luz

• I ask the class who is scared of going to the dentists. Then I tell them
all the work I had done when I was young (6 teeth out, a brace for 2 years,
now I'm having my wisdom teeth out) and put them in pairs to tell their
partners how much dental work they've had done (extra vocab too).

Then you can elicit a few modal sentences from one of the students, put it on
the board and clarify the form and meaning.

In changing it into the active it can be quite funny, as you can't really take
our own wisdom teeth out. You can even bring in some gory pictures! :)
Poppy