Causative verb

A. Definition of Causative verbs

Causative verbs is a common structure in English. It shows that somebody or something

is indirectly responsible for an action. "The subject does not perform the action itself, but
causes someone or something else to do it instead" (Pinker 1989). We use a causative verb
when we want to talk about something that someone else did for us or for another person. It
means that the subject caused the action to happen, but didn't do it themselves. There are five
causative verbs in the English language, they are: let (allow, permit), make (force, require),
have, get, and help.

1. Make suggests the use of force (physical, psychological, etc.).

2. Let is synonymous with “allow” or “permit.”
3. Have is less forceful than make; it implies engaging or employing someone to do
something.
4. Get suggests the use of persuasion or encouragement.
5. Help is synonymous with “assist” or “aid.”

Different causative verbs require different forms of the verb that follows. The number and
tense of the causative verb may change, but the rules for the verb that follows remain the
same. Let's take a closer look at the causative verbs.

B. Explanation of Causative verbs

1. Make

We use make as a causative verb to indicate that someone or something has forced or
compelled an action or event to occur.

The formula :

Make + someone/something + Infinitive

This construction means to force someone to do something. For example:

  “My mom is making me go to piano lessons this summer.”
 “Don’t make me turn this car around!”
 “She made her girlfriend buy her a different ring.”

2. Let

The primary use and definition of let is as a causative verb, meaning “to allow, permit, or
give opportunity to.”

The Formula :

Let + Someone/Something + Infinitive

For example:

 “My father let me come to the party!”

 “My bosses are letting me work from home for half of the week.”
 “I hope the teacher lets us sit together on the bus.”

3. Have

Rather than meaning “to possess,” have as a causative verb means “to compel, persuade,
instruct, or otherwise cause someone to do something,” as in:

The formula ;

Have + Someone + Infinitive

 “I’ll just have my assistant get us some coffee.”

 “He’s having the kids clean the dishes tonight.”
 “Mary had her mother make her wedding dress.”

In addition to base-form verbs, have can also be followed by present participles. When
used with a present participle (the “-ing” form of the verb), the overall meaning remains the
same, but it refers to a continuous action occurring over a period of time (which can either be
vague or specific). Uniquely, have is almost always in the simple past tense in this
construction. For example:
  “The boss had us working late again this week.”
 “The instructor had the class dancing for over an hour!”

The causative verb have, also can followed by adjective, with the formula :

Have + Somebody + Adjective

 “The test had me crazy”

 “The school bus had me late”

4. Get

The formula :

Get + someone + to + Infinitive

 “I got her to do my homework”

 “The teacher gets his students to read more”
 “Lisa got Henry to pick her up”

Get is unique among the causative verbs followed by infinitives because, just like have, it
can also be followed by present participles in certain situations. As before, the use of a
present participle doesn’t change the meaning of get, but rather indicates an action performed
continuously over a period of time. For example:

 “The presentation got me thinking about my own life choices.”

 “A game can get people exercising ”

5. Help

Help is also something of an outlier here because it isn’t really indicating causation as
we’ve described it so far; instead, it indicates when someone is aided in completing a task, so
it might be more accurate to call it “complementary,” rather than causative. Nevertheless, it is
often included in lists of causative verbs, so it’s worth examining.
 The formula :

Help + Someone + to + Infinitive

 “My friend helps me to do it”

 “I will help you clean this room”

What also sets help apart as a causative verb is that it can be followed by either an
infinitive or a verb in its base form. While the infinitive construction is sometimes considered
more formally correct, the base-verb construction is much more common in everyday speech
and writing. For example:

 “I would like to help you win this election.” (most common)

 “I would like to help you to win this election.” (acceptable, but much less common)

C. Causative verbs with modals

Modal verbs may also be used with the causative sentence structure, mainly in offering a
suggestion Modal auxiliary is used with the causative sentence structure to express a
suggestion by the speaker, such as:

 “You should have your hair cut. “

Unlike need and want, though, the causative verb must always accompany the modal
verb. Consider the example below:

The formula :

Subject + modal auxiliary verb + causative verb + object + past participle /Infinitive

 “He should have his clothes ironed.”

 “I will make you finish the task”
 “The teacher would help her students to study English”
 D. Passive Causative verbs

Causative verbs are used when one person is causing another to do something. The
passive is used when the focus is on the thing instead of the person. When we combine them
together, the sentence structure expresses a service that have done (by someone) usually by a
third person. There are two verbs generally used in the passive causative form, they are Have
and Get. In addition, there is usually no agent in this form. It is not like in active form which
has the agent. The action verb is in the past participle, and the object comes before it.

1. Get

Get is the casual passive form. Instead of the problem was solved, we can say the problem
got solved. Get also has causative meaning. We can say I got someone to do something. With
the meaning of cause or force. However, because it’s not a true causative verb, the base verb
is not used, and an infinitive verb is used instead (which is the normal case for a second verb
in a sentence after an object)

The meaning of get changes slightly when followed by a past participle, indicating action
done to someone or something, rather than compelling that person to perform an action. For
example:

 “I get the car washed before the wedding.”

 “You’ll get your dinner cooked by me”

2. Have

Have can also be followed by a past participle, but its meaning changes very slightly. For
example:

 “We’re having the house painted this week.”

 “My mother had the car cleaned after our soccer practice.”

According to the examples, instead of indicating that someone is compelled or instructed

to do something, have + past participle is used to indicate when you have something done to
someone or something.
 References

Dama yanti.Septiani .”Causative Verbs” https://Septiani33.blogspot.co.id/2014/05/causative

verb.html (accessed on 19th February 2018)

Pringganti.A.”Pengertian dan contoh causative verbs”https://blog.bahaso.com/pengertian-dan-

contoh-causative-verbs(accessed on 19th February 2018)

McCarthy. Chris.”Causative Verbs”https://www.ecenglish.com/learnenglish/lessons/causative-

verbs-have-let-make(accessed on 19th February 2018)

Thefreedictionary.com.”Causative Verbs”https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Causative-Verbs.htm
(accessed on 19th February 2018)

Thoughtco.com.”What is Causative verb”https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-causative-verb-

1689833(accessed on 19th February 2018)

Pdf. Causativity-in-English-and-Arabic-latest (accessed on 19th February 2018)

Pdf. causative-verbs-explanation(accessed on 19th February 2018)

Pdf. Seminar_8_Causatives_and_Passives(accessed on 19th February 2018)

 GRAMMAR III

(Causative Verbs)

BY :

ENGLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

HALO OLEO UNIVERSITY

KENDARI

2017