CAUSATIVE USE OF HAVE AND GET

Classes prepared by Professor Patricio Calderón

Fist Session

Review of previous activity:

After warmly greeting the students, the teacher should start the class by asking them
whether they have any doubts or comments about their previous classroom or laboratory
activity. If so, a few minutes at the beginning of this session may be used to clarify problems.

Recall of pre-requisites:

Be sure that your students recall the verb “to have” in their different forms. Also, they
should be acquainted with the past participle of some verbs; at least, they have to be able to
identify it.

State the objective and Gain students’ attention:

Tell the students that at the end of this session they will be able to apply correctly this
structure when speaking. If they tend to translate the “Spanish idea in their heads”, English
native speakers won’t be able to understand them. Worse than that, they may start laughing
while picturing yourself in that situation. Paraphrase this idea by explaining to them that the
English language is very different in comparison to our mother tongue when asking somebody
to do what we cannot do by ourselves. The English language seems to be logic while the
Spanish language sounds strange to English speaking people when using this structure.
Moreover, some jokes are generally associated to this structure in our native language.

Give the new stimuli:

The teacher may continue the class asking questions such as:

1) Who repairs your car?

2) Who connected your phone?
3) Who cuts your hair?
4) Who makes your clothes?
5) Who designs the plans to construct a building?

The students will answer the questions probably neither using the reflexive pronouns
(myself, ourselves, etc.) nor the causative use of have and get. Here is where the teacher will
introduce the importance of another function of the verbs “get” and “have”. You should ask for
more details concerning the questions above as:

Do you open the car's hood and repair it yourself?

Do you connect the phone yourself?

1
 And so on.

As you ask these questions try to act out the action. The aim is to create the need of
knowing how to say what really happened. After you have introduced this new subject matter,
explain that these particular actions are done by experts because when you do it yourself you
usually end up calling or going to the expert anyway. So then as a joke you should advise them
to start by calling or going to the expert.

Orient students’ learning:

The answers you elicited from the students at the beginning of the class might have
been correct, but there are more accurate ways of talking about these actions that are
performed by somebody that has to be paid. It would have been better to say:

I have my car repaired by a mechanic.

I had the telephone connected by the telephone company technicians.

I have my hair cut by a stylist/barber.

I have my clothes made by a dressmaker/tailor.

The builders have the plans designed by an architect.

In all the above sentences you can substitute have by get. Make the students practice
this structure before explaining it on the board. This might help the students understand it.

Elicit students’ performance:

Ask them to create or remember their own situations in which they have to use this
structure. If they seem not to participate freely, perhaps you have to encourage them to express
their own desires, by asking questions such as: Would you like to have your hair curled?
dyed?
or Have you ever had your fortune read?

In a different way, we may ask:

Would you like to have any of your slacks (pants/blouses/shirts) ironed? (since ironing is
usually considered a burden).

Encourage Participation and Provide Feedback:

To continue with the class, the teacher may propose the following exercise:

The Millers want to have a family picture taken next weekend. To get a very neat picture, they
have thought about certain things they need to have or get done, e.g.

They/ hair done/ by Felix.

They will have their hair done by Felix.

1) Gloria/ dress made/ by mother.

2) Jorge/ glasses fixed/ by optician.

2
3) Robinson’s/ picture taken/ by Hergenberg Photographer.

4) They/ picture framed.

While the students are participating and after they have finished this exercise, provide
them with affective and meaningful feedback.

Enhancing Retention and Transfer of Learning

Identify several pre-reading activities before presenting the following dialog. Be sure
that the students will understand the text either when you read it or play it, if it is recorded. By
all means, you have to explain the situation, introduce the new contents (lexical, functional,
cultural, structural and phonological) previously to the introduction of the text.
Once again, ask yourself, are all my students acquainted with all the linguistic elements
included here?
After that you may present the dialog by explaining to them that this is a short
conversation between two ladies concerned about their hair.
You may read the script slowly playing the role of both characters as you try to
dramatize the situation.

A: Will you color your hair when it starts to get gray?

B: Yes, I will dye it.

A: But will you do it yourself or will you go to the beauty parlor to have
it done?

B: Umm ... I do not know how to do it; I will pay the hairdresser to get it
done.

A: So you will have you hair dyed.

B: Yes, that is what I mean, I will have my hair colored by the hairdresser.

Once you have read the dialog you may ask a couple of questions to your students to
check comprehension or ask about the mental representations that they have formed while
listening to the text.
Later, the teacher may ask the students to read, to paraphrase or retell the dialog.
Encourage the students to apply the causative use of have and get.

Ask the students to work in pairs, and to create and perform a similar situation.
If the time is up encourage your students to prepare the previous assignment for next
class.

Before the class is over, don't forget to ask your students how they are going to retrieve
the contents "learnt" during this class.

3
Second Session

Review of previous activity:

Ask the students about what they have learnt in the previous session. Encourage them to
participate. Tell them that errors are accepted and that they should dare to participate. From
what they may remember you can give positive feedback and consider their ideas to continue
with a confusing sentence, actually a non-example situation, like:

He repairs the car every month.

In this sentence the car is after the verb (repair) and it indicates that the subject (he) does the
action. But the truth is that he does not repair his car. He pays a specialist to do it. Then we
must include an agent (the mechanic).

He has to get the car repaired by the mechanic.

The object is after the verb to have or to get then the verb that was in present changes to the
past participle.

The agent is used to be more explicit by whom the action is performed. Sometimes the agent
can be omitted because it is understood.

Example: I have/get my car repaired.

Provide different activities

Make the students –once again- note the forms of to have/get something done.

You can write the following tables on the board.

Affirmative statements

have
We're going to the house painted.
He'll
get

had
She the house painted last month.

got

4
Negative statements

They never have

He's not going to the house painted.

We didn't get

You don't usually

Questions

Are they going to have

Will you the house painted?

Did you get

Does he usually

Elicit students’ performance

The teacher tells the students to complete the following sentences, using the verb given in
parenthesis.

1) The painting was so original that he decided to ......................... (frame).

2) The heel of her shoe came off; she ................... (repair)

3) The water tap is dripping; I ......................... (fix)

4) The house was too old; the Mayor ...................... (pull down)

5) The tires are worn out; Mr. Ford ..................... (replace)

6) This skirt is too long now; she ...................... (shorten)

7) Mr. Scott's nose was too wide; he ...................... (operate)

8) The tree branches were too long; the Smiths .................. (trim)

Once the students have reported about the previous activity and you have provided them with
feedback, they may continue with this next exercise:

Pair-work or small-group work

To check if the students are able to apply the new structure and use it with the verb "to have"
and "to get", there is a list of sentences that the teacher may present in a handout or written on
the board. The learners will have to transform the given sentences applying the causative
form.

5
Situation: A group of people organizing a presentation and then a cocktail party.

1) We sent the invitations.

2) She ordered the banquet.

3) They usually arrange the seats.

4) We reconfirm the invitations.

5) She catered the food.

6) The association printed their programs.

Other activities to enhance retention and transfer of learning

Paul is going to marry Jackie. People keep telling Paul that his hair is too long. Also, two days
before the wedding he checked his suit and saw that there was a stain on the jacket and the
hem on his trousers was unsewn. To make matters worse his black shoes have a hole in the
sole. Looking for comfort he picked up the phone and called his fiancée. She was almost in
tears. They had just told her that the piano was off key, and that the priest had gotten sick. He
was desperate and came to the University to attend his regular classes. He couldn't take it any
longer and told his classmates all his troubles. They were very helpful and told him what were
the things that had to be done.

Examples: He has to have his suit cleaned immediately.

He's got to have his trousers sewn.

He has to have his shoes repaired.

If your students are really motivated to continue with this subject matter or if they are
advanced students in English conversation you can check the following activities:

These topics for conversation are meant to be used by the teacher to have the students freely
use what they have understood of the causative form, and give the teacher the opportunity to
make sure that what was covered in the class was really achieved. This is the last activity of
the class and it may last until the end of the class. At the slightest hesitation from the students
in using the structure the teacher should correct them warmly and supply the necessary
vocabulary.

Topic 1

The teacher will make the students think and talk about the operations and treatments actors
and actresses undergo to make themselves look younger or more attractive (for example, when
they have their hair straightened, or their ribs removed, their teeth whitened, plastic surgery,
etc).

By the time the students are engaged in this conversation, some of them may go to the board
and copy some of the new expressions or vocabulary they have learnt through this exercise.

6
For example:

That actress would like to have her breasts enlarged

enhanced
reshaped
reduced
uplifted
her nose

her fat removed

Topic 2

The teacher should ask the students to imagine and tell all the changes they would introduce if
they had a lot of money:

a) in their lives
b) at home (room by room, inside/outside)
c) in their cars.
d) in their clothes.

The students may work in pairs asking questions like:

Would you like to have your fortune read/told by several fortune tellers?

What about having your hair washed and dried?

done?
trimmed?
clipped?
dyed?
braided?
tied up?
curled?

removed?

Remember to encourage the use of "have" and "get" in their answers.

Before the class is over, don't forget to ask your students how they are going to retrieve the
contents "learnt" during this class.

Perhaps one of them may think of a pattern that he/she already has in his/her mind that may
help him/her not to forget the structure. This learner has a mental image of his/her mommy
telling her husband to have something at home repaired. The following concept mapping may
help to understand this case.

7
 HAVE

that

wall house kitchen door fence roof window

repaired