CAUSATIVE VERBS THEORY

CAUSATIVE VERBS

Causative verbs are used to express that we force, ask, persuade, or let somebody to do something. It is possibly for us or for somebody else.

The Causative Verbs are:

Subject + (MAKE/HAVE/LET/HELP) + Object_(doer) + BASE VERB

OR

Subject + GET + Object_(doer) + To Infinitive

In the sentence:

The president made the parliament approve the new law.

          S=cause         C.V.        O=doer          BASE         O-victim.

The president is the CAUSE of the action. The DOER of the action is the parliament. It means, it is not the president who approved the new law, but the parliament did.

In short:

a.     The Cause: The President

b.     The Doer : The Parliament

1.     MAKE

The use of the verb MAKE means TO FORCE, it means the cause forces the doer to do the action.

Examples:

a.     Andrew McDonald is making his son practice harder than he ever did.

b.     His responsibility has made him work too hard so he got sick.

c.     The bad cops make him confess the crime he never did.

The above sentences means:

a.     Andrew McDonald is forcing his son to practice harder than he ever did.

b.     His responsibility has forced him to work so hard so he got sick.

c.     The bad cops force him to confess the crime he never did.

2.     HAVE

The use of the verb HAVE means TO ASK, it means the cause asks the doer to do the action.

Examples:

a.     Jenny had her brother do her responsibilities in the committee.

b.     The Sony Co. has had the Ericsson Company merge their assets sooner.

c.     Celine Dion has her audience applaud her after her spectacular concert.

The above sentences means:

a.     Jenny asked her brother to do her responsibilities in the committee.

b.     The Sony Co. has asked the Ericsson Company to merger their assets sooner.

c.     Celine Dion asks her audience to applaud her after her spectacular concert.

3.     LET

The use of the verb LET means TO LET, it means the cause LETS the doer do the action. It also means that the cause did not do anything to the action that happens.

Examples:

a.     Kaskoosh let the wolf eat him.

b.     The Judge was finally letting the defendant go for there was no proof found.

a.     It was hard for the old man to let his daughter leave forever.

The above sentences means:

a.     Kaskoosh let the wolf eat him.

b.     The Judge was finally letting the defendant go for there was no proof found.

c.     It was hard for the old man to let his daughter leave forever.

4.     HELP

The use of the verb HELP means TO HELP, it means the cause HELPS the doer do the action. It also means that the cause did something to help the doer complete the action.

Examples:

a.     The vice president helped the president complete the program for the country.

b.     The microorganisms in human digestion system help the body process the foods digested in body.

c.     The use of glasses had helped people with minus eyes see better.

5.     GET

The use of the verb GET means TO PERSUADE, it means the cause PERSUADES the doer to do the action. In this case, the doer is not forced by the cause to do the action, but he is being suggested to.

Examples:

a.     Some famous soccer strikers got their coach to match them only with the players they wanted to.

b.     The judge is getting the couple to reunite before the trial proceeds.

c.     The young soldier had finally got their lieutenant to permit them to go home earlier.

The above sentences means:

a.     Some famous soccer strikers persuaded their coach to match them only with the players they wanted to.

b.     The judge is persuading the couple to reunite before the trial proceeds.

c.     The young soldier had finally persuaded their lieutenant to permit them to go home earlier.

PASSIVE CAUSATIVES

The above explanation and examples are the use of causative verbs in active voice in various tenses. Like other verbs in English, causative verbs are also used in Passive Voices. The meaning, of course, will change according to the origin of passive voice.

In active voice, also for all topics in English, the focus of active voice is on the doer of the action. However, in passive voice, the doer is not really important that it, usually but not always, can be omitted. Thus, the focus of the passive is on the victim of the action. For example;

Active    : Bob bought ten Ferrari sport cars last month.

Passive  : Ten Ferrari sport cars were bought (by Bob).

In the active sentence, Bob is the focus of the sentence. The sentence wants to show that Bob actually did something. On the other hand, the passive sentence shows that the number of the car and the cars themselves are the focus of the discussion. It does not matter who owns neither bought the cars.

In causative cases, the formulas for active and passive voices are very different. While in the active voice, there is a different between the verbs MAKE, HAVE, LET, HELP (which use BASE VERB) and the verb GET (which use TO INFINITIVE). In the passive voice, they are all using PAST PARTICIPLES as their verbs.

Subject + (MAKE/HAVE/LET/HELP/GET) + O _comp + PAST PARTICIPLE

One thing that should be remembered, in passive causative cases, the Doer of the action does not always appear as it is understood in general rule of passive voices. So, the doer is not really important. Usually, non-human things can be easily identified in this form.

Examples:

Active	:	The president made the parliament approve the new law.
Passive	:	The president made the new law approved.
Active	:	The new artist has got the press to publish her more often.
Passive	:	The new artist has got her (self) published more often.
Active	:	Queen Elisabeth II had the United Nation support her proposal.
Passive	:	Queen Elisabeth II had her proposal supported.
Active	:	Brat Pitt let the press take the picture of his newborn child.
Passive	:	Brat Pitt let the picture of his newborn child taken.
Active	:	The UN had helped China develop communication with Taiwan.
Passive	:	The UN had helped communication with Taiwan developed.

THE TABLE OF CAUSATIVE VERBS

	VERB USED		MEANING
	ACTIVE VOICE	PASSIVE VOICE
MAKE	Bare Infinitive	Past Participle	To force
HAVE	Bare Infinitive	Past Participle	To ask
GET	To infinitive	Past Participle	To persuade
LET	Bare Infinitive	Past Participle	To let
HELP	Bare Infinitive	Past Participle	To help