HAVE SOMETHING DONE

We use HAVE/GET + OBJECT + PAST PARTICIPLE to say that we arrange for someone else to do something for us. EXAMPLE : Janis took her trousers to the cleaner's : Janis HAD her trousers CLEANED I'm mending my motorbike : I' M HAVING my motorbike MENDED I check my daughter's homework every day : My daughter HAS her homework CHECKED every day The verb to HAVE can be used in any VERB TENSE, either affirmative, negative or interrogative form.

have something done 1

SIMPLE PRESENT TENSE Liz has her house painted every five years. My father has his car serviced at the beginning of winter and summer. I dont have my shoes polished. I always do it myself. Do you have your hair dyed every month?

have something done = get something done PRESENT CONTINUOUS TENSE Murat is having his shoes polished at the moment. ( Somebody is polishing Murats shoes for him ) A: Wherere you? B: Im at the doctors. Im having my eyes tested. Sinan and Suna are having their documents printed as they dont have a printer. She had the flat tyre changed as she didnt know how to change it by herself. SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Fatih had his hair cut before going to the wedding ceremony. She had the business letter translated into Japanese. Did you have your car repaired?

Have something done 2

PAST CONTINUOUS TENSE When I saw her, I was having my watch repaired At this time yesterday Dora and Canan were having the holiday photos developed. Arzu was having her car washed when it began to rain. PRESENT PERFECT TENSE We have already had the rubbish collected. Tina has just her hair dyed. Suzan hasnt had the air conditioner installed yet. Have you had your DVD player repaired yet? FUTURE (will) Serap will have her summer house redecorated next spring. As I dont know Chinese, I will have the document translated. When will you have the flowers watered? In English, if you say "I am going to cut my hair" it means that you will sit down in front of a mirror with the scissors and do it yourself. When we wish to talk about arranging for things to be done by other people, we use the structure to have something done: I am going to have my hair cut. I have my car serviced every two months. We had the house redecorated over the summer. It is also possible to use the verb get instead of have: I am going to get my hair cut. I get my car serviced every two months. We got the house redecorated over the summer. THE PASSIVE VOICE GET / HAVE SOMETHING DONE This construction is passive in meaning. It may describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us.

Examples: a. I must get / have my hair cut. b. When are you going to get that window mended? c. We're having the house painted. If the verb refers to something negative or unwanted, it has the same meaning as a passive sentence: d. Jim had his car stolen last night. (= Jim's car was stolen) e. They had their roof blown off in the storm. (= Their roof was blown off in the storm) The construction can refer to the completion of an activity, especially if a time expression is used: f. We'll get the work done as soon as possible. g. I'll get those letters typed before lunchtime. In all these sentences, we are more interested in the result of the activity than in the person or object that performs the activity. NEEDS DOING In the same way, this construction has a passive meaning. The important thing in our minds is the person or thing that will experience the action, e.g. a. The ceiling needs painting (= the ceiling needs to be painted) b. My hair needs cutting (= my hair needs to be cut)

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

Functions and examples

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) We also use causative have when someone does something to us. Bill had his money stolen by a thief.

Important points
Get is possible instead of have, usually in informal spoken English. I'm going to get my car fixed tomorrow. We can also use have someone do something to talk about giving instructions or orders which is more common in American English. I had my assistant type the report. I'll have my lawyer look into it.