1 Causative
Verbs : Structures & Examples
The causatives are the verbs that
are used to indicate that one person causes another person to do something for
the first person. One can cause somebody to do something for him/her by asking,
paying, requesting, or forcing the person.
o Have
o Get
o Make
This kind of verbs constitutes different structures for their
sentences.
1.1.1.1
Have
Structure 1:
|
Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually person)
+ base form of verb + . .
. . |
|
Example: |
|
John had Alex clean the
bedroom. |
|
He always has me do his work. |
|
Mary will have Alex prepare her homework. |
Structure 2:
|
Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually thing)
+ past participle form of verb +
. . . . |
|
Example: |
|
John had his car washed. |
|
He always has his work done. |
|
Mary will have her homework prepared. |
1.1.1.2
Get
Structure 1:
|
Subject + get (any tense) + object (usually person)
+ infinitive + . . . . |
|
Example: |
|
John got Alex to clean the
bedroom. |
|
He always gets me to
do his work. |
|
Mary will get Alex to prepare her homework. |
Structure 2:
|
Subject + have (any tense) + object (usually thing)
+ past participle form of verb +
. . . . |
|
Example: |
|
John got his car washed. |
|
He always gets his work done. |
|
Mary will get her homework prepared. |
1.1.1.3
Make
‘Make’ is stronger than
‘have/get’. It constitutes only one structure as it does not take anything
‘passive’ as its object.
|
Subject + make (any tense) + object (always person)
+ base form of verb + . .
. |
|
Example: |
|
Robert made me beat that
little child. |
|
He always makes me do his
work. |
|
Mary will make me prepare her homework. |
|
I made him wash my
car. |
|
He makes me laugh whenever
I am down. |
Note: According to the grammar
rules and structures, there are two more similar verbs that are not causative
verbs by definition but they constitute similar sentence structures.
Those two verbs are:
o Let
o Help
1.1.1.4
Let
‘Let’ means ‘allow/permit’ but the use of ‘let’ in the sentence
is different from these words.
Structure:
|
Subject + let (any tense) + object (always person) + base form of verb +. . . |
|
Example: |
|
Robert let me escape the
prison. |
|
Let me go. (Subject
‘you’ is hidden) |
|
The teacher let the students discuss among
themselves. |
|
I let him drive my
car. |
|
Let’s (let us) laugh and live a happy life. |
The verb ‘permit’/’allow’ does not follow this structure. It
follows the regular sentence pattern of English language.
|
Subject + permit/allow + object + infinitive + . . . . |
|
Example: |
|
John allowed him to
drive his car. |
|
He always allows him to
do that. |
|
The teacher allowed me to sit for the exams. |
1.1.1.5
Help
Help is not actually a
causative verb either but is generally regarded as a causative verb because of
its grammatical use in a sentence. It has two structures.
Structure 1:
|
Subject + help (any tense) + object (usually person)
+ base form of verb +. .
. |
|
Example: |
|
Robert helped me escape the
prison. |
|
He helps me prepare my
presentations. |
|
The teacher had helped the students understand a complex theory. |
|
I helped him learn driving. |
|
It will help you move on. |
Structure 2:
|
Subject + help + object + infinitive + . . . . |
|
Example: |
|
John helped him to
lift his car. |
|
He always helps me to
find my stuff. |
|
The teacher helped me to understand the topic. |