PASSIVE MEANING

2. PASSIVE MEANING
HAVE SOMETHING DONE GET SOMETHING DONE

The Past Participle is used after HAVE and GET to give a passive meaning . In this case , there is little or no difference in meaning between HAVE and GET .

Example sentences :

I had the barber cut my hair . ( active )
I had my hair cut ( by the barber ) ( passive )

She will get a repairman to repair her watch . ( active )
She will get her watch repaired ( by a repairman ) ( passive )

Must we get a translator to translate the documents from Russian into Turkish ? ( active )
Must we get the documents translated from Russian into Turkish ( by a translator ) ? ( passive )

He does not have the porter take up his luggage . ( active )
He does not have his luggage taken up ( by the porter ) ? ( passive )

NOTE : In some cases ( when things happen to us ) , "have something done" suggests the person was quite innocent , and "get something done" suggests that the person was partly responsible for what happened to him .

I had my watch stolen last week .
He got his nose broken in a fight last week .

BE MADE TO DO SOMETHING

The passive form of MAKE is different from the others . As in the active form , "Make" gives the idea something is forced to do.

Example sentences :

My father made me cut my hair . ( active )
I was made to cut my hair ( by my father ) . ( active )

The nurse has made my grandmother stay in bed for ten days . ( active )
My grandmother has been made to stay in bed for ten days ( by the nurse ) ( passive )


A GENERAL NOTE FOR ALL THE CAUSATIVES : Questions in the causative form are formed with the helping verbs ( do-does-did … ) Have should not be confused with them .

Had Mary any letters typed yesterday ? ( incorrect )
Did Mary have any letters typed yesterday ? ( correct )