'Have something done' or 'get something done' - sometimes
called 'causative'.
Use this construction if you want to talk about services, things other
people do for you because you pay them to!
e.g. I had my hair cut because it was getting too long.
Or, you could say 'I got my hair cut' which is more colloquial.
n.b. the Word Order is very important!
Practise making sentences with these words:
1. …my suit/clean yesterday.
2. …always/his photographs/develop/at the same place.
3. …her watch/repair/at the moment.
4. …our priest/car/fix/for nothing.
5. …the neighbours/their house/paint. Now it's a horrible colour.
6. …my husband/have to/garage/rebuild because he knocked it down reversing into it last month.
7. …the teachers/pizzas/deliver/to the teachers' room.
8. …I/this dress/make/in Hong Kong last year.
9. …the Queen/her portrait/paint/many times.
10…/a famous pop star/his nose/fix again.
Answers:
1. I had my suit cleaned yesterday.
2. He always has his photographs developed at the same place.
3. She is having her watch repaired at the moment.
4. Our priest gets his car fixed for nothing.
5. The neighbours have had their house painted. Now it's…
6. My husband has to have the garage rebuilt because he knocked it
down reversing into it last month.
7. The teachers have pizzas delivered to the teachers' room.
8. I had this dress made in Hong Kong.
9. The Queen has had her portrait painted many times.
10. A famous pop star has had his nose fixed again. I wonder who?
See The A - Z of English Grammar & Usage for the rules.
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