U4. havesomethingdone

Have something done

a) I cut my hair

b) I have my hair cut

a) I cut my hair

b) I have my hair cut

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Have something done

Have / has + (noun) + participle

WE DON’T DO the action ourselves, we get/pay/entrust somebody else to do it for us.

Also used when SOMETHING unpleasant happened to us.

The most important thing is the action; the person who does the action (agent or doer) is unknown or unnecessary.

I don’t cut my hair

I have it cut

Someone repairs Angel’s shoes

Angel’s doesn’t repair his shoes

Ángel has his shoes repaired

We don’t clean the windows

Someone cleans our windows

We have the windows cleaned

The children didn’t cook the food

The cooks cooked the children’s food

The children had the food cooked

Messy didn’t cut the grass

Someone cut Messi’s grass

Messy had the grass cut

Felipe isn’t making the chairs

The carpenter is making some chairs for Felipe.

Felipe is having the chairs made

We aren’t installing the software

We are having the software installed

The groom hasn’t made his suit

A tailor has made the groom’s suit.

The groom has had his suit made

We haven’t washed the car

We have had the car washed

He won’t fix the computer

A technician will fix his computer

He’ll have his computer fixed

The businessman won’t repair his watch

A watchmaker will repair the businessman’s watch

The businessman will have his watch repaired

We aren’t going to take the photos

We are going to have the photos taken

She is not going to take the shopping home

Her shopping is going to be taken home

She is going to have the shopping taken home

We weren’t painting the house

A painter was painting the house for us.

We were having the house painted

She may not test her eyes herself

She may have her eyes tested

Careful, we use “have sth done” when unpleasant or bad things

happen to us

I had 50 euros stolen yesterday

He had his leg broken while playing basket

CAUSATIVE FORM: “HAVE SOMETHING

DONE”ACTIVE PASSIVE

Present Simple I cut my hair myself. I have my hair cut.

Present Continuous I am cutting my hair myself. I am having my hair cut.

Past Simple I cut my hair myself. (LAST MONTH) I had my hair cut.

Past Continuous I was cutting my hair myself. I was having my hair cut.

Present Perfect I have cut my hair myself. I have had my hair cut.

Past Perfect I had cut my hair myself. I had had my hair cut.

Future Simple I will cut my hair myself. I will have my hair cut.

Future be going to I am going to cut my hair myself. I am going to have my hair cut.

Modal I should cut my hair myself. I should have my hair cut.

Modal Perfect I should have cut my hair myself. I should have had my hair cut.