Causative Verbs in English: Let, Make, Have, Get and Help

Causative verbs in English are verbs we use when one person causes another person to do something, arranges for something to be done, allows something to happen, or helps someone do something.

They are small verbs, but they do a lot of work.

For example:

• I had my hair cut.
• We got the car repaired.
• The teacher made us rewrite the essay.
• My parents let me stay out late.
• My friend helped me prepare for the interview.

In all these examples, the subject is not simply doing the action alone. Someone is arranging, forcing, allowing or helping another action to happen.

This is why causative verbs are so useful in English. They help you describe real-life situations naturally: services, rules, permission, persuasion, pressure, help and responsibility.

They are also extremely important for B2 First (FCE) and C1 Advanced (CAE), especially in Use of English sentence transformations.

In this lesson, you will learn how to use the most common causative verbs in English: let, make, have, get and help.

What Are Causative Verbs in English?

Causative verbs are verbs that show that someone or something causes an action to happen.

Compare these two sentences:

• I cut my hair.
• I had my hair cut.

In the first sentence, I did the action myself.

In the second sentence, someone else cut my hair for me. I arranged the service.

That is the basic idea behind causative verbs.

We use causative verbs when we want to talk about:

• arranging a service
• asking someone to do something
• persuading someone to do something
• forcing someone to do something
• allowing someone to do something
• helping someone do something
• experiencing something unpleasant

Let’s look at the most important structures.

Causative Verbs in English: Quick Structure Guide

have	arrange for something to be done	have + object + past participle	I had my phone repaired.
get	arrange / persuade	get + object + past participle / get + person + to + verb	I got my laptop fixed. / I got him to help me.
make	force / require	make + person + bare infinitive	She made me apologise.
let	allow	let + person + bare infinitive	They let us leave early.
help	assist	help + person + infinitive	He helped me finish the report.

The most common mistake learners make is using to after verbs where it is not needed.

For example:

• ❌ She made me to apologise.
• ✅ She made me apologise.
• ❌ My parents let me to go.
• ✅ My parents let me go.

Now let’s look at each verb in detail.

Have as a Causative Verb

Meaning of Have

We use have when we arrange for someone else to do something for us.

This is very common when we talk about services.

For example:

• I had my hair cut.
• She had her nails done.
• We had the house painted.
• They had their car repaired.

In these sentences, the subject does not do the action personally. Someone else does it.

Structure 1: Have + Object + Past Participle

This is the most common causative structure with have.

Structure:

subject + have + object + past participle

Examples:

• I had my phone repaired yesterday.
• She had her wedding dress altered.
• We had the kitchen painted last month.
• They had their windows cleaned.
• He had his passport renewed before the trip.

This structure focuses on the result, not the person who did the action.

When we say:

• I had my car repaired.

we usually do not need to say who repaired it. The important thing is that the car was repaired.

Have Something Done

The phrase have something done is one of the most useful causative structures in English.

We often use it for services such as:

• have your hair cut
• have your teeth checked
• have your car serviced
• have your eyes tested
• have your house decorated
• have your computer repaired
• have your photo taken

Examples:

• I need to have my eyes tested.
• She is going to have her hair coloured.
• We should have the roof checked before winter.
• They had their wedding photos taken in the park.

This structure is especially useful in everyday English because we often pay or ask other people to do things for us.

Structure 2: Have + Person + Bare Infinitive

There is another causative structure with have.

Structure:

subject + have + person + bare infinitive

Examples:

• I had my assistant send the email.
• We had a decorator paint the living room.
• The manager had the team prepare a new report.
• She had her brother check her application.

This structure focuses more on the person who performs the action.

It is slightly more formal or organised in tone. You may see it in business English, professional situations or written English.

Have for Unpleasant Experiences

We can also use have + object + past participle when something bad happens to someone.

In this case, the person did not arrange the action. They experienced it.

Examples:

• We had our car stolen.
• She had her bag snatched.
• They had their house broken into.
• He had his phone damaged during the journey.
• I had my passport stolen while I was abroad.

This structure is very useful because it allows us to focus on the person affected by the event.

Compare:

• Someone stole my wallet.
• I had my wallet stolen.

The second sentence sounds more natural when the focus is on the experience.

This is also a common structure in Cambridge English exams.

Get as a Causative Verb

Meaning of Get

Get is another very common causative verb in English.

It has two main uses:

1. to arrange for something to be done
2. to persuade someone to do something

It is usually a little more informal and conversational than have.

Get + Object + Past Participle

We use this structure when we arrange for someone to do something for us.

Structure:

subject + get + object + past participle

Examples:

• I got my hair cut yesterday.
• We got the car fixed.
• She got her phone repaired.
• They got the flat painted before they moved in.
• He needs to get his suit cleaned.

This is very similar to have something done.

Compare:

• I had my car repaired.
• I got my car repaired.

Both are correct.

However, get often sounds more natural in everyday speech.

Have Something Done vs Get Something Done

Both have something done and get something done mean that you arrange for another person to do something.

Examples:

• I had my laptop repaired.
• I got my laptop repaired.

The difference is small.

Have sounds slightly more formal or neutral.

Get sounds slightly more informal and conversational.

For example:

• I had the documents translated by a professional agency.
• I got my bike fixed at the shop down the road.

In many situations, both are perfectly acceptable.

Get + Person + To + Infinitive

We also use get when we persuade or convince someone to do something.

Structure:

subject + get + person + to + infinitive

Examples:

• I got my brother to help me move house.
• She got her son to tidy his room.
• We got the manager to change the booking.
• He got his colleague to check the report.
• They got the neighbours to sign the petition.

This structure is different from make and let because we use to after the person.

Correct:

• She got him to apologise.

Incorrect:

• ❌ She got him apologise.

This is a very common exam trap.

Make as a Causative Verb

Meaning of Make

We use make when someone forces, requires or strongly causes another person to do something.

It can describe rules, pressure, obligation or strong emotional reactions.

Examples:

• The teacher made us stay after class.
• His parents made him apologise.
• The film made me cry.
• The smell made me feel sick.
• The new rules made everyone work longer hours.

Make + Person + Bare Infinitive

Structure:

subject + make + person + bare infinitive

Examples:

• The teacher made Jack rewrite the essay.
• My parents made me clean my room.
• The police made the driver stop.
• The coach made the players train harder.
• The news made her feel anxious.

After make, we use the bare infinitive. This means the verb without to.

Correct:

• She made me apologise.

Incorrect:

• ❌ She made me to apologise.

This mistake is very common among learners, so it is worth remembering clearly:

make someone do something

not

make someone to do something

Make in the Passive

When make is used in the passive, the structure changes.

Active:

• They made him apologise.

Passive:

• He was made to apologise.

In the passive, we use to + infinitive.

More examples:

• We were made to wait outside.
• The students were made to rewrite their essays.
• He was made to pay for the damage.
• The workers were made to sign a new agreement.

This is extremely useful for sentence transformations.

For example:

They forced us to wait for two hours.

→ We were made to wait for two hours.

Let as a Causative Verb

Meaning of Let

We use let when we allow someone to do something.

Examples:

• My parents let me stay out late.
• The teacher let us leave early.
• They let their children play outside.
• She let me borrow her laptop.
• He let us use his garage.

Let is the opposite of make in many situations.

• make = force someone to do something
• let = allow someone to do something

Let + Person + Bare Infinitive

Structure:

subject + let + person + bare infinitive

Examples:

• They let us go home early.
• My boss let me take Friday off.
• She let her son choose the film.
• He let me explain what had happened.
• The hotel let us check in early.

After let, we do not use to.

Correct:

• My parents let me go.

Incorrect:

• ❌ My parents let me to go.

This is another common B2-level mistake.

Let vs Allow and Permit

Let, allow and permit have similar meanings, but the grammar is different.

let	let + person + bare infinitive	They let us leave early.
allow	allow + person + to + infinitive	They allowed us to leave early.
permit	permit + person + to + infinitive	They permitted us to leave early.

Examples:

• My parents let me stay out late.
• My parents allowed me to stay out late.
• The school permits students to use tablets in class.

Let is more common in everyday English.

Allow is more formal.

Permit is very formal and often used in rules, notices and official language.

Help as a Causative Verb

Meaning of Help

We use help when someone assists another person in doing something.

Examples:

• She helped me write my CV.
• My teacher helped me understand the grammar.
• This app helps learners improve their pronunciation.
• He helped his neighbour carry the shopping.
• The guide helped us find the station.

Help + Person + Verb

After help, we can use the infinitive with or without to.

Both forms are correct:

• She helped me prepare the report.
• She helped me to prepare the report.

In modern English, the version without to is often more common, especially in speech.

Examples:

• This course will help you improve your writing.
• The worksheet helped me understand sentence transformations.
• My friend helped me revise for the exam.
• A good dictionary can help you learn words in context.

Both of these are correct:

• This exercise helped me improve my grammar.
• This exercise helped me to improve my grammar.

Have, Get, Make, Let and Help: What Is the Difference?

Here is the simplest way to remember these causative verbs in English:

have	arrange for someone to do something	I had my car repaired.
get	arrange or persuade	I got my car repaired. / I got him to help.
make	force or require	She made me apologise.
let	allow	They let us leave early.
help	assist	He helped me finish the work.

Think of them like this:

• Have/get are often about services and arrangements.
• Make is about force or strong pressure.
• Let is about permission.
• Help is about assistance.

This simple difference will help you choose the right verb more naturally.

Common Mistakes with Causative Verbs in English

Causative verbs are not difficult once you learn the patterns, but learners often mix the structures.

Here are the most common mistakes.

Mistake 1: Using “to” after Make

Incorrect:

• ❌ The teacher made me to rewrite the essay.

Correct:

• ✅ The teacher made me rewrite the essay.

Remember:

make someone do something

Mistake 2: Using “to” after Let

Incorrect:

• ❌ My parents let me to go out.

Correct:

• ✅ My parents let me go out.

Remember:

let someone do something

Mistake 3: Forgetting “to” after Get

Incorrect:

• ❌ She got him help her.

Correct:

• ✅ She got him to help her.

Remember:

get someone to do something

Mistake 4: Using the Wrong Past Participle

Incorrect:

• ❌ I got my hair cutted.

Correct:

• ✅ I got my hair cut.

The past participle of cut is cut, not cutted.

More examples:

• I had my phone repaired.
• She got her dress altered.
• We had the room decorated.
• They got the windows cleaned.

Mistake 5: Confusing the Person and the Object

Compare these two structures:

• I had a mechanic repair my car.
• I had my car repaired.

In the first sentence, a mechanic is the person who does the action.

In the second sentence, my car is the object that receives the action.

Both are correct, but they follow different patterns.

Causative Verbs for B2 First and C1 Advanced

Causative verbs are especially useful for Cambridge English exams because they often appear in sentence transformation tasks.

You need to express the same idea using a different structure.

For example:

Someone repaired my car yesterday.

→ I had my car repaired yesterday.

The teacher forced the students to stay after class.

→ The teacher made the students stay after class.

My parents allowed me to go to the concert.

→ My parents let me go to the concert.

She persuaded her brother to lend her the money.

→ She got her brother to lend her the money.

These transformations test whether you understand grammar patterns, not just individual words.

That is why causative verbs are so valuable for B2 and C1 learners.

Causative Verb Transformations: Exam Examples

Look at these common transformation patterns.

1. Someone did something for me

Original: Someone cleaned my windows.

Transformation: I had my windows cleaned.

More examples:

• Someone repaired my laptop.
  → I had my laptop repaired.
• Someone cut her hair.
  → She had her hair cut.
• Someone decorated our living room.
  → We had our living room decorated.

2. Someone forced another person to do something

Original: They forced him to apologise.

Transformation: They made him apologise.

More examples:

• The teacher forced us to rewrite the essay.
  → The teacher made us rewrite the essay.
• His parents forced him to clean his room.
  → His parents made him clean his room.
• The coach forced the players to train harder.
  → The coach made the players train harder.

3. Someone was forced to do something

Original: They forced us to wait outside.

Transformation: We were made to wait outside.

More examples:

• They forced him to pay for the damage.
  → He was made to pay for the damage.
• The students were forced to repeat the test.
  → The students were made to repeat the test.

Remember:

Active: make someone do something

Passive: be made to do something

4. Someone allowed another person to do something

Original: My parents allowed me to stay out late.

Transformation: My parents let me stay out late.

More examples:

• The teacher allowed us to use dictionaries.
  → The teacher let us use dictionaries.
• The hotel allowed us to check in early.
  → The hotel let us check in early.
• She allowed me to borrow her bike.
  → She let me borrow her bike.

5. Someone persuaded another person to do something

Original: She persuaded him to join the club.

Transformation: She got him to join the club.

More examples:

• I persuaded my brother to help me.
  → I got my brother to help me.
• They persuaded the manager to change the decision.
  → They got the manager to change the decision.
• We persuaded our neighbours to support the plan.
  → We got our neighbours to support the plan.

Practice: Causative Verbs in English

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Use the word given. Do not change the word given.

1. Someone repaired my phone yesterday.

HAD

I __________________________ yesterday.

2. The teacher forced Jack to apologise.

MADE

The teacher __________________________.

3. My parents allowed me to go to the party.

LET

My parents __________________________.

4. She persuaded her brother to help her move house.

GOT

She __________________________.

5. Someone is painting our kitchen next week.

HAVING

We __________________________ next week.

6. They forced us to wait for two hours.

MADE

We __________________________ for two hours.

7. The company asked a designer to create a new logo.

HAD

The company __________________________.

8. My friend helped me prepare for the interview.

HELPED

My friend __________________________ for the interview.

9. Someone stole my wallet on the train.

HAD

I __________________________ on the train.

10. The hotel allowed us to leave our bags at reception.

LET

The hotel __________________________ at reception.

Answer Key: 1. I had my phone repaired yesterday., 2. The teacher made Jack apologise., 3. My parents let me go to the party., 4. She got her brother to help her move house., 5. We are having our kitchen painted next week., 6. We were made to wait for two hours., 7. The company had a designer create a new logo., 8. My friend helped me prepare/helped me to prepare for the interview., 9. I had my wallet stolen on the train., 10. The hotel let us leave our bags at reception.

Download Causative Verbs: Let, Make, Have, Get and Help Extensive Practice Worksheet in PDF here

Final Thoughts

Causative verbs in English are essential because they help you talk about everyday life more naturally.

We do not always do everything ourselves. We arrange services, ask for help, persuade people, follow rules, give permission and experience unexpected problems.

That is why verbs like let, make, have, get and help are so useful.

Remember the basic patterns:

• have something done
• get something done
• get someone to do something
• make someone do something
• let someone do something
• help someone do / to do something

Once you master these structures, your English will sound more accurate, more natural and much more exam-ready.

And for B2 First and C1 Advanced learners, that is exactly the kind of grammar that can make your writing and transformations stronger.

FAQ: Causative Verbs in English

What are causative verbs in English?

Causative verbs in English are verbs that show that someone causes, arranges, allows, forces or helps an action to happen. The most common causative verbs are let, make, have, get and help.

What is the difference between have and get?

Both have and get can mean that you arrange for something to be done.

For example:

• I had my hair cut.
• I got my hair cut.

The meaning is almost the same, but get is usually a little more informal and common in everyday speech.

Do we say “make someone do” or “make someone to do”?

We say make someone do something, without to.

Correct:

• She made me apologise.

Incorrect:

• She made me to apologise.

However, in the passive, we use to:

• I was made to apologise.

Do we say “let someone do” or “let someone to do”?

We say let someone do something, without to.

Correct:

• My parents let me go out.

Incorrect:

• My parents let me to go out.

Is “help me do” or “help me to do” correct?

Both are correct.

You can say:

• She helped me write the report.
• She helped me to write the report.

The version without to is often more common in modern English.

Why are causative verbs important for Cambridge exams?

Causative verbs are important for Cambridge exams because they often appear in sentence transformations. They also help learners use more advanced grammar in writing and speaking tasks.

For example:

• Someone repaired my car.
  → I had my car repaired.

They forced him to apologise.
→ They made him apologise.

Related posts: 

You may also find these grammar lessons useful:

Passive Voice in English

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Word Formation for B2 First 

Modal Verbs in English

Cleft Sentences

Inversion with Negative Adverbs and Adverbial Phrases

Predicative Adjectives in English

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