GETTING THINGS DONE  

 

The most important thing to deal with in this unit is the causative, 

these are sentences in which the subject makes another person

take charge of doing something, either because he pays him, asks him,

convinces him or forces him. The most important causative structure

is to have/get something done, which is also a way of expressing the passive voice.

NEW EXPRESSIONS 

1. You need something a.s.a.p  = it's really urgent 

2. You can see that someone is really busy= You've got a lot on your plate

3. There isn't a lot of time to do something= I won't keep you any longer

4. You want to assure someone that a request is no problem for you= no sweat

5. You want to express gratitude for a favor= You're a lifesaver 

6. You don't want to take too much of someone's time = I know this is last minute

 

GRAMMAR 

 THE CAUSATIVE 

we can also use the construction 'get + someone + to + infinitive'. 
Again, this means that you cause the other person to do the action, 
maybe by paying them to do it, or by asking them to do it, or by 
persuading them to do it.

• She gets her son to do his homework by promising him ice cream when he's finished.
• I got the cleaner to clean under the cupboards.

Sometimes, this construction has the feeling that we needed to convince someone to do something, while the other constructions on this page are neutral.

 

THE PASSIVE CAUSATIVE

The passive is used when the focus is on the thing instead of the person. When you combine them together, you are essentially saying someone caused something to be done (by someone).

The manager had the assistant write the report.

The manager had/got the report written (by the assistant). 

CONVERSATION MODEL

A: Could I have this jacket dry-cleaned by tomorrow?

B: Tomorrow? That might be difficult.

A: I'm sorry, but it's pretty urgent. My friend is getting married this weekend.

B: Well, I'll see what I can do. But it won't be ready until after 4:00.

A: I really appreciate it. Thanks! 

CONCLUSION

The use of the more informal forms of this structure is very common. 

For example, to say I cut my hair, one of the most common phrases is

 "I got my hair cut." More complex or formal forms,

 such as "I had my temperature taken by the nurse" have a much more limited use,

 and are usually seen only in very formal contexts or in literary texts. 

So if it still doesn't come easily to you, focus on the most basic form. 

It is probably the one you use the most. 

 

 

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