Have/ Get something done Practice Tests with B2 Grammar Rules & Examples

Have / Get Something Done

Sometimes we do not do things ourselves — we ask another person to do them for us. In English, we use a special grammar structure to talk about this. It is called the causative, and we form it with have something done or get something done.

For example, imagine you do not cut your own hair. You go to a hairdresser and they cut it for you. In English, you say:

"I had my hair cut." or "I got my hair cut."

This structure tells us that someone else performed the action for you — you arranged it or paid for it, but you did not do it yourself.

In this lesson, we will look at:

• how to form have / get something done
• how to use it in different tenses
• the difference between have and get
• common mistakes to avoid

What Does "Have / Get Something Done" Mean?

Let's start with a simple situation to understand the meaning.

Situation 1: Mark fixes his own car.
→ "Mark fixed his car." (He did it himself.)

Situation 2: Mark takes his car to a mechanic and the mechanic fixes it.
→ "Mark had his car fixed." (Someone else did it for him.)

The key idea is this: the subject arranges for someone else to perform the action. The subject does not do the action themselves.

More examples:

• "She had her nails done at the salon." (A nail technician did her nails.)
• "We got our house painted last summer." (Painters painted the house for us.)
• "He got his eyes tested." (An optician tested his eyes.)

How to Form "Have / Get Something Done"

The structure follows a clear, fixed pattern. You need four parts:

Subject + have/get + object + past participle

Let's look at each part:

• Subject — the person who arranges the action (e.g., I, she, they, Mark)
• have or get — the causative verb (this changes tense)
• object — the thing that is affected (e.g., my hair, the car, her nails)
• past participle — the action performed (e.g., cut, fixed, painted, done)

Important: The object always comes before the past participle. Do not change this order.

Examples of the pattern:

• "I had my hair cut."
• "She got her phone repaired."
• "They had the windows cleaned."

Have / Get Something Done in Different Tenses

Only the verb have or get changes to show the tense. The past participle always stays the same.

Tense	Structure	Example
Present Simple	have/get + object + past participle	She has her hair cut every month.
Present Continuous	am/is/are having/getting + object + past participle	I am having my car serviced right now.
Past Simple	had/got + object + past participle	We had the roof repaired last year.
Past Continuous	was/were having/getting + object + past participle	They were getting the kitchen renovated.
Present Perfect	have/has had/got + object + past participle	He has had his suit dry-cleaned.
Past Perfect	had had/got + object + past participle	She had had her teeth whitened before the wedding.
Future Simple	will have/get + object + past participle	I will have my eyes tested next week.
Future with "going to"	am/is/are going to have/get + object + past participle	We are going to get the fence painted.
Modal Verbs	modal + have/get + object + past participle	You should have your brakes checked.

Negative and Question Forms

Negative Forms

To make a negative sentence, add not (or a contraction) after the auxiliary verb or after did. The rest of the structure stays the same.

Structure: Subject + do/does/did + not + have/get + object + past participle

• "She doesn't have her hair coloured."
• "We didn't get the car repaired in the end."
• "I haven't had my laptop fixed yet."
• "He won't get his tuxedo dry-cleaned before the party."

Question Forms

To make a question, move the auxiliary verb to the front of the sentence.

Structure: Do/Does/Did + subject + have/get + object + past participle?

• "Do you have your car serviced regularly?"
• "Did she get her nails done yesterday?"
• "Have they had the boiler checked?"
• "When did you have your hair cut?"

The Difference Between "Have" and "Get" Something Done

In most situations, have something done and get something done have the same meaning. However, there are some useful differences to know at B2 level.

	Have something done	Get something done
Register (formality)	More formal and neutral	More informal and conversational
Emphasis	Neutral — simply states the fact	Can suggest effort, difficulty, or achievement
Common contexts	Written English, professional situations	Spoken English, everyday situations

Examples showing register:

• "I had my report proofread before submission." (more formal)
• "I got my report proofread before submission." (more informal, same meaning)

Examples showing effort with "get":

• "I finally got my visa approved after three attempts." (suggests it was difficult)
• "We need to get this done by Friday." (suggests urgency or effort)

Note: In everyday speech, get something done is extremely common. Both forms are correct in most situations.

When Someone Does Something Unpleasant to You

We can also use have something done when something unpleasant happens to a person — something they did not arrange or want. In this case, there is no agent doing it for them; it simply happened to them.

Examples:

• "She had her bag stolen on the train." (Someone stole it — she did not arrange this.)
• "He had his window broken by a football." (It happened to him.)
• "They had their car broken into last night." (An unwanted event.)

The context makes it clear whether the meaning is arranged by the subject or happened to the subject. This use is less common with get, though it is possible in informal speech.

Mentioning the Agent (Who Did the Work)

Usually, we do not need to say who performed the action. However, if you want to be specific, you can add by + agent at the end of the sentence.

Structure: Subject + have/get + object + past participle + by + agent

• "She had her portrait painted by a famous artist."
• "We got the roof repaired by a local builder."
• "He had his accounts checked by an external auditor."

Only include the agent when the information is important or interesting to the listener.

Common Verbs Used with "Have / Get Something Done"

Here are some very common combinations you will hear and read in everyday English:

Object	Past Participle	Example
hair	cut / coloured / done	I need to get my hair cut.
car	serviced / repaired / washed	She had her car serviced.
house	painted / decorated / cleaned	They are having their house decorated.
eyes / teeth	tested / checked / whitened	You should have your eyes tested.
photos	taken / developed / printed	We had our photos taken professionally.
suit / dress	dry-cleaned / altered / tailored	He got his suit dry-cleaned.
passport / visa	renewed / processed / stamped	I had my passport renewed last month.
boiler / roof	repaired / replaced / installed	We need to get the boiler replaced.

Important Differences and Special Cases

Have / Get Something Done vs. Do Something Yourself

It is important to distinguish between doing something yourself and arranging for someone else to do it.

Compare:

• "I painted my bedroom." → I did it myself.
• "I had my bedroom painted." → Someone else painted it for me.

• "She cut her hair." → She cut it herself.
• "She had her hair cut." → A hairdresser cut it for her.

Have / Get Something Done vs. Make Someone Do Something

Both structures involve one person causing another to do something, but they work differently:

• Have/get something done focuses on the result and the thing affected.
  → "I had the report checked." (Focus: the report was checked.)
• Make someone do something focuses on the person who performs the action.
  → "I made my assistant check the report." (Focus: my assistant did it.)

Have / Get Something Done vs. Have Someone Do Something

There is a related but different structure: have + person + base verb (without "done").

• "I had the mechanic check the brakes." (have + person + base verb)
• "I had the brakes checked." (have + object + past participle)

Both sentences mean the same thing. The first names the person; the second focuses on the object. Both are correct.

Note: With get in this pattern, the person is followed by to + infinitive:

• "I got the mechanic to check the brakes."

Common Mistakes

❌ I had cut my hair at the salon.
✅ I had my hair cut at the salon. (The object must come before the past participle.)

❌ She got her car repair.
✅ She got her car repaired. (Always use the past participle, not the base form.)

❌ They had painted their house by a professional.
✅ They had their house painted by a professional. (The structure is have + object + past participle.)

❌ He got his tooth to fill at the dentist.
✅ He got his tooth filled at the dentist. (Use the past participle, not the infinitive.)

❌ I have my car service every year.
✅ I have my car serviced every year. (The past participle is required.)

❌ Did she had her nails done?
✅ Did she have her nails done? (After "did", use the base form of "have".)

❌ We got repaired the roof.
✅ We got the roof repaired. (The object must come directly after "have" or "get".)

Have / Get Something Done: Quick Summary

Here is a review of everything we have covered in this lesson:

• Use have / get something done when you arrange for someone else to do something for you.
• The structure is: Subject + have/get + object + past participle.
• Only have or get changes tense — the past participle stays the same.
• Have something done is more formal; get something done is more informal and conversational.
• You can also use have something done when something unpleasant happens to you (e.g., "She had her phone stolen.").
• You can add by + agent to say who did the work, but only when it is important.
• Always place the object before the past participle — never after it.

Meaning	Example
Arranged service (neutral)	I had my hair cut.
Arranged service (informal)	I got my hair cut.
Unpleasant event	She had her bag stolen.
With agent	We had the house painted by a local company.
Question form	Did you have your car serviced?
Negative form	He didn't get his suit dry-cleaned.

Now practise have / get something done in the exercises below.