What could be a most baffling aspect of English to its first-time learners is its use of the so-called
causatives. English deploys this strange grammatical structure to denote situations where a person or thing doesn’t do the action but causes another person or thing to do it.
Look at how the main verb “have” works as a causative in this sentence: “I’ll
have Jennifer
call you tonight.” What, the learner may well ask, does “having Jennifer call” mean? A crude literal translation into Pilipino, for instance, yields this:
“Kukunin ko si Jennifer para tawagan ka mamayang gabi.” Of course, what the sentence really means is this: “I’ll
arrange for Jennifer
to call you tonight.” It’s a little bit officious said that way, but it’s close.
The causative “have” just happens to be one of the five most-often used causatives. In the order of their forcefulness, they are the verbs “make,” “get,” “have,” “let,” and “help.” Their forcefulness ranges from the compulsion of “make” to the plain assistance of “help.”
Functionally, all of the causatives work as the main verbs in sentence structures with this general form:
[Subject] + [Causative] + [Someone/Something] + [Verb stem/Infinitive/Participle] + [Object/Complements].
The causative “make.” The doer of the causative “make” forces or compels another person or thing to do the indicated action: “Our boss
made us work overtime last night.” “They are going
to make their sons
fight this war.” Note that when the causative “make” is used, the verb that will carry the action must be in its verb-stem form, not in the infinitive or “-ing” form.
The causative “get.” The doer of the causative “get” likewise forces or compels another person or thing to do the indicated action, but with less force and authority than “make”: “Let’s
get Eduardo
to run for president.” “I want
to get the car
repainted before Christmas.” Note very carefully now that when the receiver of the action of the causative “get” is a person, the action to be done must always be in the infinitive form, not in the verb stem or “-ing” form; we can’t say “Let’s get Eduardo run for president” or “Let’s get Eduardo running for president.”
The causative “have.” The doer of the causative “have” likewise makes or asks another person or thing do the indicated action, but with less force and authority than “get”: “They
had the seller
bring down the price by 20 percent.” Note that when the receiver of the action of the causative “have” is a person, the action to be done must always be in the verb-stem form, not in the infinitive or “-ing” form; we can’t say, “They
had the seller
to bring down the price by 20 percent” or “They
had the seller
bringing down the price by 20 percent.”
The causative “let.” The doer of the causative “let” simply gives another person or entity permission to do the indicated action: “The teacher
let the pupils
go home due to the impending typhoon.” Note that the action permitted by the causative “let” must always be in the verb-stem form, not in the infinitive or “-ing” form; we can’t say “The teacher
let the pupils
to go home due to the impending typhoon” nor “The teacher
let the pupils
going home due to the impending typhoon.”
The causative “help.” The doer of the causative “help” simply assists another person or entity to do the indicated action: “My assistant often
helps me do my speeches.” (Using the verb stem alone is preferable, but the infinitive form is also acceptable.) When using the causative “help,” never use the “-ing” form of the verb that will carry out the action; we can’t say, “My assistant often
helps me doing my speeches.”
This essay, 2115th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the September 8, 2022 digital edition of The Manila Times
, ©2022 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay online in
The Manila Times:
“Using the causative verbs in our writing”(Next week:
When the object is the doer itself) September 15, 2022
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
