Forming and Using the Causative Passive
Causative passive sentences communicate the idea of having something done by someone else.
Elvis had his house painted.
In the above example, Elvis (the subject) organized for another person (or other people) to paint his house. This kind of sentence is often used to describe a service that is paid for.
Formation
Subject + HAVE (or GET) + Object + Past Participle
Jackie got me fired.
The subject (Jackie) is responsible in some way for what happened, but she didn’t do it herself. The object (me) received the action (being fired).
In some cases, an agent can be added to the sentence with by. See the next example.
When to Use the Causative Passive
We use the causative passive to express:
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What we arrange for someone to do for us (have or get): He has his hedge trimmed by a student.
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Unfortunate experiences (only get): He got his leg broken skiing.
Only object verbs are used in causative constructions.
Practice using the causative passive in discussion with these discussion questions.