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Grammar · Verb patterns & moods · B2 · Upper-intermediate

Causative: have something done

Last updated 21 July 2026

In short

The causative (have/get + object + past participle) describes an action someone arranges for another person to perform: 'I had my hair cut' means a hairdresser cut it, not the speaker. 'Have' is the standard, neutral form; 'get' is more informal and often adds urgency or effort. The same pattern can also report an unwelcome event, as in 'She had her bag stolen.'

How to build the causative

FormStructureExample
Present simplehave/has + object + past participleFarah has her nails done every fortnight.
Past simplehad + object + past participleWe had the roof repaired last spring.
Present continuousam/is/are having + object + past participleThey're having their kitchen renovated this month.
Present perfecthave/has had + object + past participleI've had my laptop fixed twice this year.
Futurewill have + object + past participleThe clinic will have the results sent by email.
'get' variant (informal)get + object + past participleYou should get your eyes tested before the exam.
Unwelcome eventhave/get + object + past participle (no arrangement)He had his wallet stolen on the metro.

What is the causative 'have something done'?

The causative describes an action the subject arranges for someone else to perform on their behalf — usually a professional or specialist, who is often left unnamed because it is obvious, much like the passive.

Compare it with an ordinary active verb, which means the subject did the action personally: 'I cut my hair' (I did it) versus 'I had my hair cut' (someone else did it for me).

  • I cut my own hair during the lockdown.(the speaker did it personally)
  • I usually have my hair cut at a small salon near the station.(someone else does it, arranged by the speaker)
  • She painted her flat over the weekend.(active — she did the painting herself)
  • She had her flat painted before putting it up for rent.(causative — professionals did the painting)

What is the difference between 'have' and 'get' something done?

'Have' is the neutral, more common choice in both speech and writing. 'Get' is more informal, and often adds a sense of effort, urgency or persuasion — getting something done despite obstacles, or finally getting someone to do it. In imperatives and advice, 'get' is far more natural than 'have'.

  • You really should get that noise in the engine checked.(informal advice, mild urgency)
  • We finally got the contract signed after months of delay.(effort or persistence implied)
  • The company has its accounts audited every year.(neutral, routine, formal register)

How does the causative describe unwelcome events?

The same have/get + object + past participle pattern also reports something happening to someone, usually without their permission or against their wishes — no arrangement is involved at all. Context and meaning, not grammar, tell the two uses apart.

  • We had our flight cancelled at the last minute.(something happened to them, not arranged)
  • He got his phone stolen while queuing for tickets.(unwelcome, unplanned event)
  • They had their car window smashed overnight.(victim of an incident, not a customer of a service)

How is the causative different from the ordinary passive?

Both structures put a past participle after a form of be/have, but they answer different questions. The passive (be + past participle) simply removes or hides the agent: 'My hair was cut.' The causative (have + object + past participle) keeps the subject as the person who arranged or experienced the action — something the plain passive cannot show.

  • The bridge was designed by a Danish firm.(ordinary passive — no causative meaning)
  • I had the bridge design reviewed by an independent engineer.('I' arranged the review — causative)
  • My car was serviced yesterday.(passive, agent hidden or unimportant)
  • I had my car serviced yesterday.(causative — emphasises that I arranged it)

How do you ask questions and use word order correctly?

Questions and negatives move only the auxiliary have/has/did, never the object: 'Did you have your suit tailored?', not 'Did you have tailored your suit?' The object always sits directly after have/get, and the past participle comes last.

  • Did you have your suit tailored for the wedding?
  • Did you have tailored your suit for the wedding?(the object must sit before the participle → Did you have your suit tailored)
  • How often do you have your teeth checked?

Common mistakes with causative: have something done

Real learner errors, corrected and explained — the fastest way to stop repeating them.

I had cut my hair yesterday.

I had my hair cut yesterday.

The causative needs the object between have and the past participle — 'had my hair cut', not 'had cut my hair' (which would mean a past perfect of 'cut').

She had her photo taking for the passport.

She had her photo taken for the passport.

The causative always uses the past participle (taken), not the -ing form, after have + object.

We get our windows to clean every month.

We get our windows cleaned every month.

'Get' takes the same object + past participle pattern as 'have' — never object + to-infinitive.

Did you had your laptop repaired?

Did you have your laptop repaired?

Questions only invert do/did with the base form 'have' — 'had' cannot follow 'did'.

My purse was had stolen on the bus.

I had my purse stolen on the bus.

The causative subject is the person affected, not the object — 'was had stolen' is not a real English structure.

He is having repaired his car this week.

He is having his car repaired this week.

In the continuous causative, the object still comes straight after 'having', before the past participle.

Causative: have something done in IELTS

Grammatical Range and Accuracy is 25% of your Speaking and Writing scores — here is where this structure earns marks.

Speaking

  • Part 1 questions about routines and appearance almost invite the causative: 'I have my eyebrows threaded once a month' sounds far more natural than describing a service you don't personally perform as an active verb.
  • In Part 2 or 3 stories about problems, the unwelcome-event causative adds a natural complication: 'Halfway through the trip, we had our bags searched at every checkpoint' — a compact way to report something that happened to you.

Writing

  • In Task 2, the causative signals precision about who actually performs an action: 'Homeowners increasingly have solar panels installed' is more accurate than the vaguer 'people install solar panels', which wrongly implies homeowners do it themselves.
  • Task 1 or infographic answers about services and outsourcing read more naturally with the causative: 'Many manufacturers have components produced overseas' — a structure a Band 7 script uses instead of an awkward passive workaround.

Practise causative: have something done now

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Question 1 of 5

Which sentence means a professional did the work, not the speaker?

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Related lessons

Frequently asked questions

What does 'I had my hair cut' mean?
It means someone else — a hairdresser — cut the speaker's hair, at their arrangement, not that the speaker cut it themselves. This is the causative structure: have + object + past participle. Compare 'I cut my hair', which means the speaker did the cutting personally.
What is the difference between 'have' and 'get' something done?
Both describe arranging for someone else to do something, but 'get' is more informal and often implies effort, persuasion or urgency: 'We finally got the leak fixed' suggests it took some pushing. 'Have' is the neutral, everyday choice in both speech and writing.
Can the causative describe something bad happening to you?
Yes. The same structure — have/get + object + past participle — also reports an unwelcome event with no arrangement involved: 'She had her wallet stolen on holiday.' Context tells you whether the event was arranged (a service) or unwanted (a misfortune).
What is the word order in the causative structure?
Subject + have/get + object + past participle: 'I had the car washed', not 'I had washed the car' (which changes the meaning entirely, to the speaker washing it before some other past event). The object always comes immediately after have or get.
Is 'have something done' the same as the passive voice?
They're related but not identical. The ordinary passive ('The car was washed') simply removes or hides the doer. The causative ('I had the car washed') keeps the subject as the person who arranged the action — information the plain passive cannot express.

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