"Have Something Done"
One of the ways we use the passive voice is to talk about an action without saying who did it.
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For example, we can see this person relaxing because someone else is taking care of his problems! How can we express this meaning with the passive voice?
There is a special passive construction with have:
example:
I have my business taken care of.
(Somebody is taking care of my business.)
another example: He has his dog walked.
(Somebody walks his dog.)
(Somebody is taking care of my business.)
another example: He has his dog walked.
(Somebody walks his dog.)
In this construction, like in all passive sentences, we need to use the past participle.
Remember that for regular verbs, this is the same as the simple past.
However, for irregular verbs, the past participle can be different!
Be sure to review them and use the correct form of the verb in passive constructions.
We can use this construction in the following cases:
- We make someone else do something for us, or we pay someone
else to
do something for us.
- Something negative happens and we have no control over it (something bad happens to us).
First, let's talk about when someone else does something that we ask of them.
Example:
- Jeremy's car is in terrible condition! He is going to have his car fixed. He hopes it won't be too expensive!
This means that Jeremy will not do the work himself. He will pay a professional mechanic to do the work for him. He will have the work done to his car.
More examples:
- The living room in Terry's new house is a terrible
salmon pink color. She wants to have it painted
before she moves in.
- Lizzy can't talk right now. She's having her hair cut
by the barber at the moment.
- I need to go to the dentist today to have a tooth pulled.
I hope it's very fast!
- Will you have
your party catered, or are you going to cook all the food
yourself?
- Emily had her dress sewn by a professional seamstress. She wanted it to look perfect for her special day!
We can use this construction in any of the English verb tenses. All we need to do is use the correct form of have depending on the verb tense we are using. The rest of the construction (object + past participle) remains exactly the same.
Now, let's look at the second meaning of have + object + past participle.
We can also use this construction when something negative happens to us when we don't expect it or want it.
Example:
- The homeowner had all his money stolen! The police still haven't caught the mysterious robber.
The owner of the money did not want it to be stolen. This was a negative experience that this person suffered.
More examples:
- The children are all upset because they had their toys taken
away. They wanted to keep playing!
- The event was supposed to be outside, but look at all this
rain! The organizer, Ms. Huffington, is terribly upset because she's had her big event ruined.
- Bruno is still not back at work. He says he's had his heart broken!
It's so terrible that he's going through that divorce.
- Phil doesn't want to come back to class. He had his feelings hurt last week, and he just isn't enthusiastic about the subject anymore.
Poor Phil! He suffered a negative experience that he did not expect! He certainly didn't want to be teased!
These constructions can seem confusing at first, but with practice, you'll feel comfortable with them. If you're still not sure how to use the passive voice, look at more examples. And keep on practicing!
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