The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

Causative structures with an agent

In the following causative structures, the agent is the object of the main clause.

MAKE + object + bare infinitive

This structure means "force someone to do something they do not want to do":

The teacher

made Jack rewrite

the composition.

His mom

made him clean

his room again.

Make + object + bare infinitive can also mean "cause someone to do something":

Don't

make me laugh

.

The film

made me cry

.

In the passive voice, make takes a to-infinitive:

Jack

was made to rewrite

the composition.

Quotes:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Children make you want to start life over. - Muhammad Ali

HAVE + object + bare infinitive

This structure has a meaning similar to "make someone do something":

I'

ll have her copy

the document right away.

(I'll ask/tell her to copy the document right away.)

The teacher

had me stay

after class to discuss my essay.

(The teacher made me stay after class to discuss my essay.)

GET + object + TO-infinitive

This structure means "persuade someone to do something". It is similar in meaning to have + object + bare infinitive but is more informal:

Finally, we

got a mechanic to repair

the elevator.

I

couldn't get her to understand

the problem.

HAVE, GET + object + present participle

Have/get + object + present participle can mean "persuade someone to do something":

The teacher

had the whole class singing

Mary Had a Little Lamb.

The boss

got the staff working

overtime.

It can also mean "experience something happening to you as a result of something":

We'll

have my brother staying

with us for a little while until he finds a new apartment.

His problems

got him going

to hospital for years.

Here, the present participle expresses repeated action, or something happening over a period of time.