The Causative: Have Something Done
When we arrange for someone else to do a task for us, or when something happens to us that is out of our control, we use the causative structure have something done (or get something done). For example, instead of saying "I cut my hair" (which means you used the scissors yourself!), you should say "I had my hair cut." Similarly, you might say, "We are having the house painted."
In this challenge, you will practice forming the causative structure across various tenses, including the past simple, present perfect, present continuous, and future forms. You will help secret agents write mission reports about stolen gadgets, assist stressed brides and party planners with their to-do lists, and even figure out how to arrange professional repairs for a spooky haunted house.
You'll work through 10 questions featuring a diverse mix of single-choice, multi-choice, drop-down, and drag-and-drop formats to test your accuracy with these tricky verb combinations.
Try the quiz to check your knowledge!
Complete the teenager's dramatic text message to their best friend. Select the grammatically correct option.
It's a disaster! I went to that cheap salon downtown and _____, and now I look like a sad poodle!
The correct answer is had my hair cut.
To express that someone else performed a service for you in the past, use the past simple causative: had + object (my hair) + past participle (cut).
"Had cut my hair" uses the wrong word order, and "have my hair cut" is in the present tense, but the salon visit happened in the past!
The correct answers are I had my secret gadget stolen on the train. and I got my sunglasses broken during the chase.
The structure have/get + object + past participle isn't just for services we ask for; it can also be used to describe experiencing something bad, like a theft or an accident!
"I had stolen my secret gadget" means the agent was the thief!
"I had my passport steal" is incorrect because it uses the base verb ("steal") instead of the past participle ("stolen").
Choose the correct phrase to complete the roommate's party-planning checklist.
Before the guests arrive on Friday, we definitely need to _____ by a professional service. This place is a mess!
The correct answer is have the carpets cleaned.
After "need to," we use the base form of the verb. The causative structure requires have + object (the carpets) + past participle (cleaned).
"Clean the carpets" would mean the roommates are doing the scrubbing themselves, but the sentence specifies it will be done "by a professional service."
The correct answers are We are having the spooky attic cleaned right now. and We have had the creepy basement windows replaced.
The causative structure (have + object + past participle) can be used in any tense.
"Are having... cleaned" is the present continuous, and "have had... replaced" is the present perfect.
"Having the walls painting" is incorrect because it uses an -ing verb instead of a past participle ("painted").
"Have had replaced the creepy basement windows" is incorrect because the object must come before the past participle.
Complete the secret agent's surveillance report by dragging the correct verb forms into the blanks.
Next week, the villain will have the stolen diamonds smuggled out of the country in a shipment of pineapples.
Furthermore, he has already had his secret island lair redecorated to look exactly like an active volcano.
Next week, the villain will have the stolen diamonds smuggled out of the country in a shipment of pineapples.
After the modal verb "will," we must use the base form of the causative verb (have). The object (diamonds) is followed by the past participle (smuggled).
Furthermore, he has already had his secret island lair redecorated to look exactly like an active volcano.
The sentence uses the present perfect tense ("has already..."), so we need the past participle of the causative verb (had). The object (lair) is followed by the past participle of the action verb (redecorated).
The correct answers are She is going to have her dress altered. and She will get her hair styled by a professional.
We use have/get + object + past participle to say that we arranged for someone else to do something for us.
"Having her nails to paint" is incorrect because it uses the infinitive ("to paint") instead of the past participle ("painted").
"Will have altered her dress" is the future perfect tense, which means Sarah will do the altering herself!
Help the stressed wedding planner organize her final checklist by dragging the correct verb forms into the blanks.
"We are having the giant floral archway built right now, so please tell the caterers not to walk there!"
"Also, I had the invitations printed last month, but unfortunately, half of them got lost in the mail."
"We are having the giant floral archway built right now, so please tell the caterers not to walk there!"
We use the present continuous form of the causative (are having) because the action is happening "right now." The object (archway) is followed by the past participle (built).
"Also, I had the invitations printed last month, but unfortunately, half of them got lost in the mail."
We use the past simple causative (had) because the action happened "last month." The object (invitations) is followed by the past participle (printed).
The correct answers are replaced, changed, and checked.
The structure have + something + done shows that you asked or paid someone else to perform an action. The main verb must always be in the past participle form (replaced, changed, checked), no matter if the event happened in the past, present, or future!
Help Agent 007 complete his mission report before heading into the field. Choose the correct phrase to complete the sentence.
I'm ready for the assignment, Chief. I _____ with the latest laser technology by the engineering department.
The correct answer is have had my watch equipped.
We use the causative structure have + object + past participle to talk about arranging for someone else to do something for us. Because the action was recently completed and is relevant now, we use the present perfect tense: have had.
"Have equipped my watch" would mean the agent did it himself, which contradicts "by the engineering department"!
The correct answers are altered, delivered, and done.
When we arrange for someone else to do a task for us, we use the causative structure: have + object + past participle (e.g., have my dress altered). Even though the tense of "have" changes, the main action verb is always a past participle!
Future tense
- ✅ I*'ll** help you.* — spontaneous decision (will)
- ✅ I*'m going to** study medicine.* — planned intention
- ✅ I*'m meeting** Sam at six.* — fixed arrangement (present continuous)
- ✅ The train leaves at 8. — scheduled event (present simple)
English has no single future tense — it uses will, be going to, present continuous, and present simple for different shades of future meaning. The choice signals whether you're predicting, planning, arranging, or stating a schedule.
Pattern: spontaneous → will. Planned → going to. Arranged → present continuous. Timetabled → present simple.
Infinitive
- ✅ I want to go. — to-infinitive after want
- ✅ She can swim. — bare infinitive after modal
- ✅ Let me help. — bare infinitive after let
- ❌ I enjoy to read. — wrong (enjoy takes gerund, not infinitive)
The infinitive has two forms: to-infinitive (to go) after verbs like want, decide, plan, hope; bare infinitive (go) after modals and causatives (let, make, help).
Rule: after want, need, decide, plan, hope, expect, agree, refuse → to-infinitive. After can, will, must, let, make → bare infinitive. After enjoy, avoid, finish → gerund, NOT infinitive.
Modal verb
- ✅ She can swim. — ❌ She can to swim. (modal + bare infinitive, no to)
- ✅ You must leave now. — strong obligation
- ✅ It might rain. — possibility (~50%)
- ✅ He should apologise. — advice/recommendation
Modal verbs (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) are auxiliaries expressing ability, permission, possibility, obligation, or speculation. Always + bare infinitive. Never inflected (she can, not she cans).
Rule: modals never take to after them, never add -s for third person, and can't combine directly (must can ❌ — use must be able to).
Object
- Sam fed the dogs. — direct object (what was fed)
- She sent him a present. — indirect object (who received it)
- She waited for Lucy. — prepositional object (after preposition)
- I gave her a book. — indirect + direct object together
An object is what a verb acts on or directs its action toward. Direct = the thing affected. Indirect = the recipient. Prepositional = after a preposition.
Test: Verb + what/whom? = direct object. Verb + to/for whom? = indirect object. After a preposition? = prepositional object.
Participle
- ✅ a broken window — past participle as adjective
- ✅ the running water — present participle as adjective
- ✅ I have eaten. — past participle in perfect tense
- ✅ She is sleeping. — present participle in progressive tense
- ❌ I have went. — wrong (past tense, not past participle: use gone)
A participle is a verb form that also works as an adjective. Present (-ing): running, sleeping. Past (-ed or irregular): broken, written, gone. Used in progressive tenses, perfect tenses, passive voice, and as modifiers.
Trap: don't confuse past tense (went) with past participle (gone). After have/has/had → always past participle.
Past tense
- I walked home. — simple past (completed action)
- I was walking when it rained. — past progressive (in progress)
- I had already left when she arrived. — past perfect (earlier past)
- I had been waiting for an hour. — past perfect progressive (duration up to a past point)
Four past tense forms: simple past (done), past progressive (was happening), past perfect (had already happened), past perfect progressive (had been happening). Each encodes different timing relative to other past events.
Pattern: simple past = the story's main timeline. Past progressive = background action. Past perfect = flashback to something even earlier.
Phrase
- the red car — noun phrase (functions as one noun unit)
- on the table — prepositional phrase
- has been running — verb phrase
- very quickly — adverb phrase
A phrase is a group of words that functions as a single unit WITHOUT a subject + verb pair. Types: noun phrase, verb phrase, prepositional phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase.
Key distinction: a phrase lacks a subject-verb pair. If it has subject + verb → it's a clause, not a phrase. Phrases are the building blocks clauses are made of.
Present tense
- I work here. — simple present (habit/permanent)
- I am working now. — present progressive (happening right now)
- I have lived here for 10 years. — present perfect (started past, still true)
- I have been waiting for an hour. — present perfect progressive (duration up to now)
Four present tense forms: simple (habits/facts), progressive (now/temporary), perfect (past → present relevance), perfect progressive (ongoing duration). Each encodes a different relationship between the action and the present moment.
Trap: "I am living here for 10 years" ❌ — started in the past + still true = present PERFECT (have lived/have been living), not progressive.
Verb
- walk → walk / walks / walked / walked / walking (5 forms, regular)
- go → go / goes / went / gone / going (5 forms, irregular)
- be → am/is/are/was/were/be/being/been (8 forms)
- can → can / could (modal: only 2 forms, no -s, no -ing)
A verb is the one word class every English sentence requires. Carries tense (when), aspect (duration), mood (attitude), and voice (active/passive). Regular verbs add -ed; ~200 irregular verbs have unpredictable past forms.
Key insight: fix your verbs and most grammar problems disappear. Wrong tense, wrong agreement, wrong form — verb errors account for the majority of grammatical mistakes.
Passive voice
- ✅ The meal was cooked by the chef. — passive (action matters)
- ✅ Mistakes were made. — passive, agent hidden (evasive)
- ✅ Active: The chef cooked the meal. — stronger, clearer
- ❌ The report was being been written. — malformed passive
The passive = be + past participle. Object becomes subject. Use it when the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or obvious. Avoid when it hides responsibility or weakens prose.
Formula: find the active object → make it the subject → use be (matching tense) + past participle → optionally add by + agent.
Verb tense
| Simple | Progressive | Perfect | Perfect Progressive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Past | worked | was working | had worked | had been working |
| Present | work(s) | am working | have worked | have been working |
| Future | will work | will be working | will have worked | will have been working |
Verb tense = time (past/present/future) × aspect (simple/progressive/perfect) = 12 forms. Each slot has a specific job — not just "when" but "how the action relates to its time frame."
Key insight: most learners don't need all 12 at once. Simple covers 80% of communication. Add perfect and progressive as needed.
Perfect tense
- ✅ I have lived here for ten years. — present perfect (started past, still true)
- ❌ I live here for ten years. — wrong (simple present can't bridge past→now)
- ✅ She had finished before I arrived. — past perfect (earlier past)
- ✅ They will have left by noon. — future perfect (completed before future point)
The perfect = have + past participle. Connects an action to a reference point in time. Present perfect bridges past→now. Past perfect marks "earlier past." Future perfect marks "done before a future deadline."
Rule: if the action started in the past and is still relevant now → present perfect (have done). If two past events and you need the earlier one → past perfect (had done).
Progressive tense
- ✅ I am working in London. — temporary, happening now
- ✅ I work in London. — permanent/habitual (simple)
- ❌ I am knowing the answer. — stative verb, can't be progressive
- ✅ She was reading when I arrived. — past progressive (in progress at that moment)
The progressive = be + -ing. Marks actions as ongoing, temporary, or in-progress at a reference time. NOT used with stative verbs (know, believe, own, want, like) unless meaning shifts.
Rule: is the action temporary/in-progress right now? → progressive. Is it a permanent fact, habit, or schedule? → simple. Is it a stative verb? → almost never progressive.
Word order
- ✅ She (S) eats (V) cake (O). — standard SVO
- ❌ Cake eats she. — SOV (not English)
- ✅ a lovely little old rectangular green French silver whittling knife — adjective order (opinion→size→age→shape→colour→origin→material→purpose)
- ✅ Never have I seen… — inversion after negative adverb
English word order = SVO (subject-verb-object) as default. Adjectives follow a fixed sequence (opinion→size→age→shape→colour→origin→material). Adverb placement varies by type. Deviations signal questions, emphasis, or literary style.
Rule: when in doubt, default to SVO. English position = meaning. Move a word and you change the grammar or the emphasis.
B1 | Intermediate
- ✅ If I had more time, I would travel more. — second conditional
- ✅ The bridge was built in 1920. — passive voice
- ✅ She said she was tired. — reported speech with backshift
- ✅ Although it rained, we enjoyed the trip. — complex sentence with concession
These are B1 patterns — the CEFR intermediate level. At B1 you link ideas, use passive voice, handle reported speech, and manage second conditional — enough for travel, work basics, and everyday independence.
Marker: if you can explain why something happened and follow a news story, you're B1.
Medium
- If I were you, I would apologise. — one rule (second conditional), but distractors like was tempt you
- Answers require active thought, not instant pattern recognition
- Vocabulary and context are realistic, not artificially simplified
- Usually tests one rule, but the wrong answers are plausible
Medium marks middle-difficulty challenges: A2–B1, one rule tested, but with realistic distractors that require genuine understanding.
Use "Medium" when Easy feels too obvious but Hard feels overwhelming. This is where most productive learning happens — the sweet spot of difficulty.