The Causative An overview of the various forms and uses: There are five forms: How often do you change the oil in your car? I don’t change the oil myself: 1 I have the oil changed. 2 I get the oil changed. 3 I have somebody change the oil. 4 I get somebody...
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The Causative An overview of the various forms and uses: There are five forms: How often do you change the oil in your car? I don’t change the oil myself: 1 I have the oil changed. 2 I get the oil changed. 3 I have somebody change the oil. 4 I get somebody to change the oil. 5 I make somebody change the oil. These are the grammatical possibilities: which one to use depends on the situation. Is there a difference? In an example like: • It took three days to get the car mended. • It took three days to have the car mended. There is very little difference. However when a degree of difficulty is implied, “get” is better. • I couldn’t get the car mended for three days! • Why couldn’t you get your book published? • For goodness’ sake, get your hair cut! “Have” sounds a little weak in these examples. In contrast: • The new president always has an official photograph taken. “gets” seems wrong here because there can be no idea of persuasion or difficulty – when the president wants something done
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